Background
View Official SiteCurrently, only a very small proportion of Indias workforce has formal skill training of any kind. Not surprisingly, several sectors of the countrys economy face shortage of skilled people and are mired with low productivity due to poor quality of workforce. At the same time, large sections of the countrys youth are looking for economic and livelihood opportunities. In this context, skill development has become a key priority area for the country. This is not only essential for economic development, but would also help to fulfil youth aspirations for good quality, better paid jobs and self-employment opportunities. This would also enable the country to take advantage of its favorable demographic profile. With a large pool of skilled people, India has an opportunity to become a skill provider for the world, particularly the ageing developed world.
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (2016 – 2020) is a modified and improved version of PMKVY 2015-2016. It is the flagship outcome-based Skill Training Scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE). This Skill Certification Scheme aims to enable and mobilize a large number of Indian youth to take up skill training and become employable and earn their livelihood.
The Scheme shall be aligned to the Common Norms approved by the Common Norm Committee and notified by MSDE. It will ensure an equitable spread of opportunities in skill training so that the youth in all parts of the country can be benefitted. This will boost the productivity of the countrys workforce by enabling them to acquire high quality skill training across a range of sectors. It also seeks to significantly scale up skill training activities at a faster pace without compromising on quality.
Institutions comprising of National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), Assessment Agencies (AAs), and Training Partners (TPs) are already in place for implementation of the Scheme and more may be added during the course of the Scheme.
Objective
The objective of this Scheme is to encourage and promote Skill Development for the youth throughout the country by aligning itself with the Common Norms guidelines. The scheme also needs to be aligned to complement all other Missions of the Government, such as Make in India, Digital India, Swachh Bharat, and Smart Cities. Specifically, the Scheme aims to:
Enable and mobilize a large number of youth to take up industry designed quality skill training, become employable and earn their livelihood.
Increase productivity of the existing workforce, and align skill training with the actual needs of the country.
Encourage standardisation of the Certification process and put in place the foundation for creating a registry of skills.
Benefit 10 million youth over the period of four years (2016- 2020).
Official website: www.pmkvyofficial .org