Skill India Mission Programme

The Central Government launched the Skill India Mission in 2015 to prepare Indian youth from rural and urban areas for employment. It aims to empower India’s youth by providing them with the necessary skills and training to increase their chances of finding work in various sectors. This also increases a person’s productivity and knowledge. The initiative aims to educate over 40 million people and create a workforce by 2022. It accomplishes this by providing free courses and classes. The National Skill Development Mission considers the proceedings through a result-oriented structure that connects with modern business requirements. Technically, this scheme addresses convergence, institutional training, overseas employment, public infrastructure leveraging, and sustainable livelihoods.

Important Terms/Definitions:

Skill Development: This is the process of identifying skills gaps in youth and providing them with skilling training and employee benefits.
Entrepreneurship: It is the creation or extraction of economic value. According to this definition, entrepreneurship is change, generally involving risk beyond what is typically encountered when starting a business, and may include matters other than monetary ones.

Why does India Need a Skill Development Program?

India has a distinct demographic advantage, with over 60% of the population under 35. However, employability must be improved to reap the benefits of such a large workforce. According to current statistics, only 10% of fresh graduates are employable, with the remaining 90% lacking the necessary skills to be hired by corporations. India’s GDP is growing rapidly, around 6-8%, but job creation is not keeping pace.

To improve people’s overall expertise, skill development training should be made mandatory in India. To develop, they require proper guidance and training initiatives. Individuals must be capable of communicating, using technology, and so on. This is only possible if they are provided with ample opportunities to grow and develop through skill development training.

Many students were easily placed because many universities place a premium on skill development. Organizations today seek people who are efficient and productive. People who develop their skills can work more effectively and succeed in whatever they do. There may be more opportunities for advancement, and individuals’ careers may advance. Overall, skill development training in India is essential.

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC):

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is a non-profit public limited company founded on July 31, 2008, in accordance with Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. National Skill Development Corporation was established as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model by the Ministry of Finance. The Government of India owns 49% of NSDC through the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), while the private sector owns the remaining 51%.

NSDC’s goal is to promote skill development by catalyzing the establishment of large, high-quality, for-profit vocational institutions. Furthermore, the organization provides funding to support the development of scalable and profitable vocational training initiatives.

Objectives of Skill India Mission:

The Skill India Mission aims to train nearly 40 million Indians in market-oriented skills by 2022.
It works to create a space for youth talents to be promoted and job opportunities.
Skill India Mission funds sectors looking for ways to identify areas for skill development.
It bridges the gap between talented youth and businesses.
Lowering the country’s poverty rate.
Increasing the level of healthy competition in Indian businesses.
The Indian and global markets support the Indian workforce and local production.
Diversifying skill development programs to meet critical challenges.
Improving social partner engagement and the relationship between public and private partnerships
Seek investors to fund long-term skill development.

Features of Skill India Mission:

The most important component is the development of a new “rural India plan.”
The emphasis is increasing young people’s employability to improve their employment and entrepreneurship skills.
The mission assists, trains, and directs all traditional occupations such as cobblers, weavers, welders, masons, blacksmiths, nurses, etc.
Construction, transportation, real estate, gems industry, textiles, banking, design, tourism, and other sectors are targeted by the Skill India Mission.
The best part about participating in Skill India Mission is that it adheres to international standards, ensuring that demand for Indian youth remains high even after they leave the country.

Benefits of Skill India Mission:

The Skill India program was created to increase confidence, improve productivity, and provide direction through proper skill development.
Skill development will enable young people to obtain blue-collar jobs.
Developing skills at a young age, even at the school level, is critical for channeling them for appropriate job opportunities.
All sectors should experience balanced growth, and all jobs should be equally important.
Every job applicant would receive soft skill training to live a good and decent life.
Skill development would also reach rural and remote areas.
Corporate, educational institutions, non-governmental organizations, the government, academic institutions, and society would all contribute to developing youth skills to achieve better results in the shortest time.

The Slogan of Skill India Mission:

The tagline ‘Kaushal Bharat, Kushal Bharat’ implies that skilled Indians (‘Kaushal Bharat’) will produce a happy, healthy, prosperous, and strong nation (‘Kushal Bharat.’ A short film introducing the logo was shown, with the Sanskrit chant ‘SarvadaVigyataVijaya,’ which means ‘Skill Always Wins.’

Challenges to the Skill Development in India:

1. Industry-Private Sector Partnership: Creating opportunities for private sector participation has been a critical strategic pillar for skill development in India. In terms of sectoral need and availability, competency required by an employer and those possessed by a trainee, and so on, the skilling landscape has a significant gap. Essentially, there is information asymmetry on multiple fronts. Recognizing Prior Learning, or RPL is one promising way to combat this.

Professional learning programs and apprenticeships have recently become one of the most popular ways for global companies to address the skill gap and reduce unemployment in the country. The Automotive Skill Development Council (ASDC) in India has been a key establishment for India Auto Inc., supporting the industry by continuously developing data-driven solutions to existing skill challenges. ASDC provides an inventory of skilled manpower in the automotive sector, which includes candidates who have undergone skill training and assessments, in addition to massive training programs aimed at reskilling and upskilling the auto workforce.

2. Promoting international mobility: India is firmly committed to becoming the world’s “Skill Capital,” as evidenced by its structured efforts, such as the India International Skill Centre (IISC) program. ‘A proposal for a new and market-driven IISC network has also been initiated for the purpose of counseling and guiding potential emigrants, with a special focus on skills tests, upskilling, language, and pre-departure orientation. The Government of India and Japan are collaborating to implement Japan’s Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP), an on-the-job training scheme that provides three to five years of internship opportunities for foreign nationals in Japan through Government-to-Government and Business-to-Business partnerships.

3. Women of working age have low labor-force participation rates: The next major challenge is the low rate of female labor-force participation. According to various reports, only 91.6 million of the country’s 395.2 million labor force are women. Apart from the government’s various skilling initiatives to close the gap, which should be complemented by a broader push toward empowerment through gender sensitization, economic opportunity creation, and economic and social support, the focus should be on creating a gig economy and providing flexible work models to attract more women. Given that the majority of female respondents report “attending domestic duties” as their reason, system flexibility may be beneficial.

Suggestions to Improve Skill Development:

DSC capacity building is absolutely essential. Furthermore, in order to achieve true decentralization, DSCs must ensure optimal resource utilization as well as the inclusion of all marginalized sections of society.
DSC skill development must be prioritized.
Knowledge creation and management
Content customization and localization Knowledge dissemination through training Opportunities for guided practice
Finally, provide actionable feedback during the evaluation.
Using skill development to ensure socio-economic development: Mechanization of manual scavengers and rag-pickers, for example, will provide monetary and social benefits. Furthermore, it will provide entrepreneurial skills and career opportunities for caste-based skills.
Interact with industry representatives: To identify relevant industrial skills, the government must interact with local industry, trade chambers, sector skill councils, and experts. Similarly, the government must offer courses in self-development, interpersonal communication, and other soft skills.
Recognizing the backward and forward connections: The government must provide comprehensive training. For example, tourism skill training should include instruction on national and state tourism maps/destinations/policies.

Various Skill Development Schemes was Launched by the Govt:

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana
SANKALP
UDAAN
Standard Training Assessment and Reward Scheme (STAR)
Polytechnic Schemes
Vocationalisation of Education

Some of the Schemes are Explained Below:

1. National Skill Development Mission (NSDM):

The NSDM was established in order to promote convergence in skills training activities across various sectors and states. Apart from consolidating and coordinating skilling efforts, the mission would also facilitate decision-making across sectors in order to achieve large-scale quality skilling.

2. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY):

PMKVY is a skill certification scheme that aims to encourage the country’s young population to pursue industry-relevant training and skill development.
Many specialized components are included in the scheme, including the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF), Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), Kaushal, and Rozgar Melas, among others.

3. Indian Skill Development Service:

The Indian Skill Development Services (ISDS) is a new central government service created specifically for the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship’s training directorate. It is a Group ‘A’ service that is expected to significantly boost the government’s skilling initiatives by vastly improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the various schemes in this domain. The UPSC’s Indian Engineering Service Exam is the qualifying exam for this service. The ISDS was created to attract young and talented people into the skill development domain and make skilling initiatives successful in the country.

4. National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015:

The primary goal of this policy is to match the challenge of scaled skilling with speed, standard (quality), and sustainability. It aims to provide an umbrella framework for all skilling activities in India, aligning them to common standards and connecting skilling with demand centers. The policy, in addition to defining the objectives and expected outcomes, identifies the overall institutional framework that will serve as a means to achieve the desired results.

5. Skill Loan Scheme:

Loans ranging from Rs.5000 to Rs.1.5 lakhs will be made available under this scheme to those wishing to participate in skill development programs. The scheme’s goal is to remove financial barriers for people who want to improve their skills and learn new ones.

6. PM-YUVA:

It is a federally funded program for entrepreneurship education and training. Entrepreneurship development and education for all citizens at no cost via Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and eLearning systems. The creation of an assessment and certification mechanism. To provide institutes with the tools, they need to deliver world-class entrepreneurship education programs. To promote social entrepreneurship as well.

Way Forward:

The benefits of a growing economy are frequently reflected in a country’s increasing number of well-paid jobs. As a result, any policy that stimulates economic growth affects job creation and the overall employability of the country’s workforce. Every year, an increasing number of young people enter the workforce in India. Improving youth employability is critical for capitalizing on the demographic dividend. The newly established Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship coordinated all skill development efforts nationwide.

This includes bridging the gap between demand and supply of skilled labor, developing a vocational and technical training framework, and developing new skills and innovative thinking not only for existing jobs but also for jobs to be created.

Recent reports on the much-touted skilling scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), show that the policy is still falling short of its goals. According to the Indian Express, data showed that only 2.9 lakh of the 30.67 lakh candidates who had been trained or were undergoing training across the country in June 2017 had received placement offers.

Frequently Asked Questions on Skill Development Program:

Q1. When did the Skill India mission begin?

Ans: On August 15, 2015, the National Skill Development Mission, also known as the Skill India Mission, was launched. Skill India is a central government initiative that aims to provide skill sets to young people to make them more employable.

Q2. What are the Features of the Skill India Mission?

Ans:

The most important component is the development of a new “rural India plan.”
The emphasis is on increasing young people’s employability to improve their employment and
entrepreneurship skills.
The mission assists, trains, and directs all traditional occupations such as cobblers, weavers, welders, masons, blacksmiths, nurses, etc.
Construction, transportation, real estate, gems industry, textiles, banking, design, tourism, and other sectors are targeted by the Skill India Mission.
The best part about participating in Skill India Mission is that it adheres to international standards, ensuring that demand for Indian youth remains high even after they leave the country.

Q3. Is the Skill India Mission a Success?

Ans: Despite government data indicating an increase in employment due to the Skill India Mission, the unemployment rate remained at 7.3%. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Skill India Mission on August 15, 2015, intending to provide skills and employment to 400 million youth by 2022.

Q4. What Exactly is the Goal of Skill Development?

Ans: Skills development can aid structural transformation and economic growth by increasing employability and labor productivity and assisting countries in becoming more competitive.