Of 64 Lakh People Trained Under ‘Skill India’, Only 22% Found Jobs

Out of the 64 lakh people trained under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, only 14.43 lakh people have got jobs.

A mere 22% of those trained under PMKVY, the flagship scheme of Modi’s ‘Skill India Mission’, have found employment.

(Photo: The Quint)

On Monday, the Modi government informed the Lok Sabha that out of the 64.27 lakh people who have been trained under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), only 14.43 lakh people have got jobs.

In other words, a mere 22% of those trained under PMKVY, the flagship scheme of Modi’s ‘Skill India Mission’, have found employment.

The data was provided in a written reply by Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, RK Singh.

The PMKVY was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015, under the Skill India Mission, and falls under the ambit of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE). It aims to provide employable skills to 1 crore youth between 2016 and 2020.

As per its own website, the PMKVY is designed to “enable a large number of Indian youth to take up industry-relevant skill training that will help them in securing a better livelihood.”

India is currently facing record levels of unemployment. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) stated that in October, the countrywide unemployment rate had risen to a 3-year high of 8.5%.

The last official government data on jobs, the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) jobs survey for 2017-18, showed that unemployment is at a 45-year peak.

According to the same report, the unemployment rate was as much as 33% for India’s skilled youth between 15 to 29 years of age.