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Special Report

Government skilling initiatives tional Training Improvement Project and 1,396 through PPP

(public-private partnership) model.
he Union ministry of skill development and entrepre- Scheme of polytechnics. The Union government has provided
neurship (MSDE) was established in May 2014 by the direct assistance (Rs.12.3 crore per polytechnic) to state gov-
TBJP government, soon after it won a decisive man- ernments/Union territories to promote 300 new polytechnics
date in the General Election, to co-ordinate “all skill develop- in un-served and underserved districts. Moreover, financial
ment efforts across the country” and achieve the vision of a assistance is provided to upgrade infrastructure facilities of 500
‘Skilled India’. Since then, MSDE has initiated several skilling existing polytechnics (Rs.2 crore per polytechnic).
programmes delivered through several “functional arms” Craftsmen Training Scheme. Training courses under Craftsmen
including the Directorate General of Training (DGT), National Training Scheme are being offered through a network of 14,930
Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET), Na- ITIs (3,227 govt. and 11,702 private) across the country with
tional Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), National Skill capacity to train 2.65 million personnel.
Development Fund (NSDF), 37 Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS). Launched in
33 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs), 15,000 Industrial August 2016, this scheme promotes apprenticeship training
Training Institutes (ITIs) and 187 training partners registered by providing stipend support (Rs.1,500 per month) to appren-
with NSDC. tices for on-the-job training. Thus far, 1.3 million apprentices
MSDE’s major programmes and initiatives include: have enrolled under NAPS. Last July, instead of reimburse-
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY). Launched in 2015, ment of stipends to the company, the Central government
MSDE’s flagship scheme (now in its 4.0 version) has three has proposed to transfer the amount to the bank account of
components: provision of free-of-charge short duration skills apprentices under its Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme.
training in PMKVY Partner Training Centres; recognition of Skill Loan Scheme. This scheme (launched in 2015) provides
prior learning wherein individuals with prior learning experi- bank loans (Rs.50,000-1.5 lakh) to students admitted into
ence or skills are assessed and certified; and Special Projects a course run by ITIs, polytechnics, government recognised
to facilitate training in special areas and/or premises of gov- college/university, and training partners affiliated with NSDC.
ernment, corporate or industry bodies. According to MSDE, The scheme does not require collateral to be provided from
13.7 million youth have been trained and 11 million assessed the beneficiary.
and certified for prior learning through a network of 693 train- National Skill Training Institutes for Women (NSTIWs). Eleven NSTI-
ing partners countrywide. Ws countywide provide vocational training courses to women
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK). Under its Skill India in office management, electronics, secretarial practice, archi-
Mission, MSDE claims to have established state-of-the- tecture, computer, dress making, cosmetology, fruits and veg-
art training centres in every district of India — PMKK — to etables processing, desktop publishing, fashion design, etc.
provide high-quality industry-driven courses with focus on School education. NSDC is working in collaboration with the
employability. This is done through the public-private partner- Union ministry of education to restructure the implementation
ship model. NSDC provides funding support through secured model of skill development training in schools from the four-
loans up to a maximum of Rs.70 lakh per PMKK. Thus far, 812 year (entry in class IX and exit in class XII) to two-year model
PMKKs have been sanctioned in 36 states/UTs; covering 707 (entry in class IX and exit in class X; again entry class XI and
districts and 540 Parliamentary Constituencies (PCs) of India. exit at class XII). Training for 73 job roles across 21 sectors will
Of them, 738 PMKKs are already operational. be offered in schools.
Upgradation of ITIs. Over 400 government industrial institutes These are well conceptualised and designed programmes,
have been upgraded under the World Bank assisted Voca- but their budgets are too meagre and prone to leakage.

was established in 2014, which has sequently, the number of VET insti- vices CEO S. Ramadorai as chairman,
launched a plethora of official skills tutes in India at 15,000 has remained it has been plagued by several scams
development programmes (see box). static cf. 500,000 in China. and scandals and its certification has
Yet the Modi administration and state Unfortunately, the ambitious Na- lost credibility. Succeeding chairmen
governments have repeatedly failed to tional Skill Development Corporation drawn from the bureaucracy have
put money where their mouths are. (NSDC), launched in the new millen- been of relatively low calibre. Which
Annual outlays for education (Centre nium with great pith and moment as is perhaps why Ved Mani Tripathi,
plus states) are stuck in the 3-4 per- a government-private partnership the incumbent chair of NSDC who re-
cent of GDP groove despite repeated initiative, has proved a damp squib. quested — and was sent — a written
promises to raise it to 6 percent of Authorised to licence private skills questionnaire for this feature was “too
GDP (as recommended by the Kothari education firms as training partners busy” to respond despite numerous re-
Commission way back in 1967). Con- with former Tata Consultancy Ser- minders.

60 EDUCATIONWORLD JULY 2023