Himachal Pradesh government has so far approved 41 unemployed youths for grant of allowance of Rs 1,000 per month under its Skill Development Allowance scheme.
Giving the information to the state assembly, Industries minister Mukesh Agnihotri said that there was no beneficiary from Chamba, Hamirpur, Lahaul Spiti and Kinnaur.
Amid heated exchanges with opposition members, the Industries minister told the house that the state government had made the scheme flexible to benefit more people now.
"We have lowered the age limit to 18 years from 25 and qualification from plus two to matriculation so that more unemployed youths in the state could come under its ambit," Agnihotri said.
It was the flagship scheme of the government under which it would spend Rs 500 crore over a period of five years to cover five lakh unemployed youth, he said.
He said there was no need to constitute skill development authority as department is competent enough to run the scheme efficiently.
