The skills India needs

Excessive centralisation of skilling programmes may hinder the ability of training institutions to effectively respond to Indian market requirements

About a month ago, the Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 3.0, the third phase of the short duration national skilling programme. Unlike some other public policy campaigns of recent times, there are many concerns about the skilling programmes of the government. There is a need to think about the most useful ways forward.

In any field, the first question to ask, when discussing state intervention, is: What is the market failure? In the case of skills, the market failure arises out of positive externalities. When one individual increases her skills, some of the benefits accrue