Skill India mission was launched in 2015 with a target of training and skill development to 400 million by 2022, covering each and every village. The main goal is to create opportunities, space and scope for the development of the talents of the Indian youth. To identify new sectors for skill development. Various schemes are also proposed to achieve this objective.

Since the inception of Skill India mission, there are many measures taken under it

• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
• Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM)
• Director General of Training – Modular Employable Skills (DGT-MES)
• Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana
• National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF)
• National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)
• National Skill Development Agency
• Aajeevika – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM)
• Atal Innovation Mission
• Startup India

The impacts of the above schemes in the last 4 years are:

• NSQF recognises prior learning, through which an estimated 20 million school dropouts can get a second chance.
• There is a substantial increase in the number of people who were skilled in FY17 and FY18. Notably, the rise is phenomenal, it has risen more than four times, from over 3.5 lakh people in FY17 to nearly 16 lakh people in FY18.
• About 30% of the skilled persons have found jobs under the mission in FY2018.
• With nearly 55 percent successful placements, the Short-Term Training Program (STT) under PMKVY (2016-20) has successfully trained over 13 lakh candidates.
• Approximately 76 percent of the candidates have been placed in wage employment and 24 percent placed in self-employment/ entrepreneurship.
• Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is designed for those who already have a job or are self- employed and require up-skilling and certification for better prospects. Till date, more than 4.5 lakh candidates have been certified under this component of PMKVY (2016-20).

Issues in implementation of Skill India Mission:

• The targets allocated are very high and without regard to any sectoral requirement. Everybody was chasing numbers without providing employment to the youth or meeting sectoral industry needs.
• The focus of PMKVY has been largely on the short-term skill courses, resulting in low placements. There has been an over emphasis on this scheme and hence it is seen as the answer to all skill-related issues.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed out flaws in the design and operations of the NSDC and National Skill Development Fund which has resulted in falling short of skill development goals. Majority of them also could not achieve the placement targets for the trained persons.
• The Sharada Prasad Committee, held the NSDC responsible for poor implementation of the Standard Training Assessment and Reward (STAR) programme. It highlighted that only 8.5 per cent of the persons trained were able to get employment. That is what has been claimed by NSDC.
• The Report also cites “serious conflict of interests” in the functioning of the National Skill Development Corporation. NSDC has not been able to discharge its responsibilities for setting up sector skill councils (SSCs) owing to lots of instances of serious conflict of interest and unethical practices.
• The skilling courses are not in line with the Industrial Revolution 4.0 which is round the corner.
• There have been apprehensions on how many of the 11.7 million trained in the past two years are really in jobs.

The following reforms required are:

• Need for Holistic training: need for more holistic training and the need to re-examine the narrow, short-term NSQF-based NSDC courses to include skills in broader occupation groups, so that trainees are skilled enough to compete at the international level.
• Need for clear demarcations: Unlike for general academic education, which requires the completion of certain levels of certification before further progression is permitted, there is no clear definition of the course curriculum within the NSQF that enables upward mobility.
• Need for linkage: There is no connection of the tertiary level vocational courses to prior real knowledge of theory or practical experience in a vocational field, making alignment with the NSQF meaningless.
• Need of Political will: Efforts to introduce new Bachelor of Vocation and Bachelor of Skills courses were made, but the alignment of these UGC-approved Bachelor of Vocation courses was half-hearted.
• Need for Ministerial Co-ordination: There is no real alignment between the Human Resource Development Ministry (responsible for the school level and Bachelor of Vocation courses) and the Ministry of Skill Development (responsible for non-school/non-university-related vocational courses)
• Need for incentivization: Incentivise employers to offer apprentice schemes that ensure skill training programmes are in sync with industry’s requirements.
• Need for survey: Indian government needs to conduct surveys, once every five years, through the National Sample Survey Office to collect data on skill providers and skill gaps by sector. Such data can guide evidence-based policy-making.
• Sharada Prasad committee recommendations:
  1. Create a sound and well defined National Vocational Education and Training System of the country which should ensure the following::-
     • At the secondary school level, the children should be sensitized about the dignity of labour, world of work and career options but vocational education and training should start only after 10 years of schooling which is the case in most of the developed world.
     • Every child should be given an option to go for higher vocational education and training.
  2. Create National Labour Market Information System, National Occupational Standards, National Competency Standards, National Training Standards, National Accreditation Standards, National Assessment Standards and National Certification Standards and align them to the International Standards.
  3. Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship should become the owner of all National Vocational Education and Training Standards and get them developed though intense industry involvement.
  4. Set up state of the art Vocational Education and Training Colleges to impart vocational education and training with a clear objective of meeting the skills needs of the industry and providing employment to youth.
  5. In-plant apprenticeship training should be made an integral part of the Vocational Education and Training for all trainees.
  6. The industry must come together to contribute towards a National Skill Development Fund.
  7. All diploma colleges and ITIs should be renamed as VETCs and their capacities should be enhanced to about 500 trainees per annum.
  8. There should be one Skill Development Centre (SDC) in a cluster of about 10-12 villages, which would provide skills to the youth so that they can access employment opportunities in the local economy.
  9. The state of Gujarat has already set up a good number of such SDCs called Kaushal Vardhan Kendras which are doing excellent work.
  10. The two existing Acts i.e. Apprentices Act, 1961 and The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959 should be repealed and a new Vocational Education and Training Act (VETA) should be enacted.

Conclusion:

India is one of the youngest nations. Its median age is 27.3. As India aims to have one of the strongest economic growth stories in the 21st century, it becomes vital for it ensure it growing workforce is capable to handle the incoming disruptions and find suitable jobs. Skill development holds the key to India’s future as a globally competitive economy and the demographic dividend it hopes to reap.