Stepping Towards Skilled India

Unemployment in India has always been an issue. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data, there are currently nearly 31 million unemployed Indians looking for jobs. In order to curb the situation, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) was launched in 2016 with an aim to skill 1 crore youth by 2020 which would help in generating more employment and reducing unemployment.

Owing to the successful implementation of the scheme, the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) continues to strive towards fulfilling the vision of a “Skilled India”. The scheme has witnessed an exponential increase in generating employment opportunities with 5.25 lakh placements in nearly eighteen months as on May 17, 2018. During the last financial year 2017-18, there has been a significant increase in placements due to infrastructure development, expanding training partner network and stringent monitoring processes; making the scheme more effective and constructive with an over-riding focus on quality.

The placements under PMKVY (2016-2020) are categorized into wage and self-employment. Nearly 78 per cent of the candidates have been placed in wage employment while 22 per cent in self-employment/entrepreneurship. The top 10 performing sectors with respect to placements are Apparel, Electronics and Hardware, Retail, Beauty and Wellness, Telecom, Logistics, Agriculture, IT-ITeS, Tourism and Hospitality and Construction encapsulating 85 per cent of the total placements.

Addressing gender inequality in the workforce, the scheme has shown significant gains, with women constituting 55% of the total placements.  Meeting the industry demands, the placements have been skewed towards service sector with major placements in apparel, tailoring, computing and peripherals, retail sales, customer care and beauty and wellness job roles.

Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, National Skill Development Corporation has said, “NSDC’s objective is to create and strengthen skill training institutions for enhancing employability of skilled youth.  We are encouraging quality training in industry-relevant job roles for better placement outcomes. We are also enhancing the self-employment capabilities of skilled youths by integrating digital literacy, soft skills and entrepreneurship modules with PMKVY.”

One of the innovative and impactful initiatives undertaken by NSDC to accelerate the pace of placements is Job Fairs or Rozgar Melas being held across districts. Under this initiative, placement drives are conducted providing employers and candidates a common platform to interact and fulfill the placement directive of PMKVY 2016-2020. The scheme has associated with more than 7,000 employers across India through approximately 800 Rozgar Melas in the last 18 months.  The scheme has facilitated connect with leading employers, such as Myntra, Pizza Hut, PVR Cinemas, Bata India, G4S Secure Solutions, Lemon Tree Hotels and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter Pvt. Ltd. to name a few.