Day: May 23, 2022

Anil Puri CMD, APS group A first generation serial entrepreneur, thought leader and an action catalyzer rolled into one – Anil Puri is a rare combination of a visionary, an innovator and a strategic thinker. He has used this combination to innovate and implement on-ground many new business ideas. His rich experience in various businesses has enabled him to nurture & mentor innovative ideas and scale them up. Introduction Skill development is imperative for socioeconomic development of a country. Skill development ecosystem in India encompasses broad policy and structural framework that govern the skill development activities at state and central level. Under Skill India campaign about 20 central ministries/ departments including Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship are involved in the implementation of more than 40 schemes for various skill development programs. The push for a policy-backed skill development initiative is a significant step towards realizing the potential of the workforce by enhancing its employability. India’s largest skill certification scheme, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) was approved on 20 March, 2015 and was subsequently launched on 15 July, 2015, on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day to be implemented by National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) under the guidance of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE). With a vision of a ‘Skilled India,’ MSDE was put on mission mode to skill India on a large scale with speed and high standards on the platform of flagship scheme PMKVY to drive towards greater realisation of this vision. Owing to the its successful first year of implementation, the Union Cabinet further approved the scheme for another four years (2016- 2020) to impart skilling to 10 million youth of the country. This was undertaken in the light of the Government’s recent skill gap analysis revelation that more than 12 million youth between 15 years to 29 years of age are expected to enter India’s labour force every year in the next two decades and by 2022, another 109 million skilled workers will be needed in the 24 keys sectors of the economy. At present, only 2.3 percent of India’s workforce has received some formal skill training leading to acquire job specific occupational skills. Govt also took note of the fact that the delivery of skilled manpower declined from 7.58 points in 2005 to 5.75 points in 2014 which put India at 48th position out of 60 countries surveyed in IMD world talent ranking. While all was moving smoothly in the direction, The COVID pandemic dealt a severe blow to the Skill India Mission resulting in further widening of skill gaps to alarming levels thus adversely affecting the economic activity. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development Entrepreneurship (MSDE). The objective of this Skill Certification Scheme is to enable a large number of Indian youths to take up industry-relevant skill training. The trainings are given in the following sectors such as: agriculture, healthcare, automotive, apparel, BFSI, beauty and wellness, construction, capital goods, food processing, furniture & fittings, green jobs, gems and jewellery, handicrafts & carpets, IT and IT-es, iron and steel, logistics, life science, management, mining, media & entertainment, power, plumbing, retail, tourism and hospitality and telecom. Stakeholders The scheme has different stakeholders who are responsible for successful implementation of the entire programme. The key stakeholders are – Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Sector Skills Council (SSC), Training Providers, Assessment Agencies, Assessors, State Government, State Skill Missions, Local Administration, UIDAI, Banks and Individuals. NSDC is the main implementing agency which controls and monitors different programmes to be implemented by the central government. SSCs are assigned to identify the specific job roles for which trainings are to be provided through PMKVY. SSCs also affiliate training collaborate both from government as well as from private sectors to impart training. Since training should be followed by assessment; it is the responsibility of the SSCs to recruit third party agencies to conduct assessment for the training programmes conducted. Once the allocation is done, both state governments as well as private training partners have to mobilize the prospective candidates who are in real need of skill training to meet the requirement of the skilled manpower in industry. At the last, NSDC awards the reward money and the certificates on successful completion of the training programme. Key Components of PMKVY The PMKVY scheme has been divided into six components. Every component has its own objectives and set of target audiences. Not all are equally required to be absorbed in each of the schemes. Once, the SSC have identified the job role and various sectors where the skilled manpower is required, there is a need to identify the proper implementation and stages to be followed during the entire plan period. The authorities have divided the schemes into six components: Short Term Training, RPL, Special Project, Kaushal and Rozgar Yojna, Continuous Monitoring, Placement Assistance and Standardizing Monitoring and Communication. India’s Current Skill Analysis In 2015 a study assessed the skill capacity of Indian workforce through general education and vocational training level to be extremely low i.e., around 38% of the workforce were not even literate, 25% with below primary or up-to primary level of education and remaining 36% having an education level of middle and higher level leaving rest of only 10% of the workforce which is vocationally trained (with 2% formal and 8% informal training). The current data suggests that only 2 to 2.3% of the workforce in India has undergone formal skill training as compared to 68% in the UK, 75% in Germany, 52% in USA, 80% in Japan and 96% in South Korea. The workforce in India has little or no job skills that make them largely unemployable. It is an alarming signal for India which has the youngest population in the world. There is a lot of scope for India to provide its workforce with appropriate skills. As per the 12th Plan…