Economic Survey: Govt skill programme could place only one in 6 candidates

PMKVY 3.0 has had the worst track record, with only 3.6 per cent placement under the scheme

Given the mismatch between demand and supply of labour, the government in 2014 had created a new ministry for skill development and entrepreneurship. The following year, skill development and apprenticeship responsibilities were transferred from the ministry of labour and employment to the new ministry. The government also launched Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) to train and certify youth.

While Industrial Training Institutes had been operational across the country, the government expanded the scope by roping in the private sector and enhancing capacity. In its third iteration now, PMKVY has shown mixed results.

While 13.4 million have been trained under the scheme and nearly 80 per cent have received certification, Economic Survey 2021-22 shows that one in six have been placed.

Further analysis shows that the rate of employment has declined for PMKVY 3.0

The first PMKVY had a limited scale. It was able to train only 2 million people, of which nearly 73 per cent were certified, and 13.4 per cent were placed.

PMKVY 2.0, on the other hand, trained 11 million people between 2016 and 2020. Of these, 83 per cent were certified, and 19.2 per cent found placement.

PMKVY 3.0 has had disastrous results compared to the two schemes. Of the 468,330 trained under the scheme, only 40.4 per cent have received certification, and just 3.6 per cent have found placement.

State-wise analysis shows that Punjab, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were the best performing states, with one in four trained finding placements after PMKVY programmes. Assam and Jharkhand were the worst performers, with only one in 10 finding jobs after PMKVY training.

Although Bihar was able to place one in five trained candidates, it had only trained nearly 600,000 people during this period. In contrast, Rajasthan had trained over a million.

The government would need to rework the skill programme to increase employability and address state-wise inequities.