Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

Skill and entrepreneurship development is one of the high priority areas of the present Government. The newly formed Ministry of Skill and Entrepreneurship Development, is to play a critical role in fulfilling the objectives of the ‘Make in India’campaign, a major initiative to turn India into a major manufacturing hub.

A new National Policy for Skill and Entrepreneurship Development has also emerged to cover the entire gamut of initiatives in this direction. The Policy is to lay a roadmap for boosting growth creating quality manpower. It has set a target for skilling 500 million persons by the year 2022.

The recently approved Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), is a flagship scheme for imparting skill training to youth, focussing on improved curricula, better pedagogy and trained instructors. The training includes soft skills, personal grooming, behavioural change etc.

• The scheme is being implemented by the newly created Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship through the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
• It will cover 24 lakh youths. The Skill training would be based on the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) and industry led standards.
• Under the scheme, a monetary reward is given to trainees on assessment and certification by third party assessment bodies. The average monetary reward is around Rs. 8,000 per trainee.
• The PMKVY, will primarily focus on the first time entrants to the labour market and target mainly drop outs from Class 10 and Class 12.
• Under the scheme, a Skill Development Management System (SDMS),will be put in place to verify and record details of all training centers, quality of training and courses.

The efforts in this direction, is being carried on a mission mode. The National Skill Development Mission, an umbrella body, has three institutions under it. The National Council on Skill Development-under the chairmanship of Prime Minister, is to give policy direction and review skill development efforts. The National Skill Development Coordination Board, under the chairmanship of Vice Chairman NITI Aayog is to enumerate strategies to implement the decisions of PM’s council. The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), a non-profit company, is to meet the skill training requirements of the labour market including the unorganized sector.