Union Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan shared the milestones achieved under Skill India towards creating a ‘job-ready’ workforce to fuel India’s economic growth engine.

Sharing his views on the achievements made under the ‘Skill India’ initiative on Wednesday, Pradhan said, “What began as a stepping stone in 2014 has today blossomed into a system where training is imparted, based on interest and acumen to create a skilled workforce that is in line with our dream of making India an economic powerhouse.”

“Following our Prime Minister’s vision of Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas, today the Indian story of inclusive growth is where the marginalised are getting opportunities to match steps with the privileged. Our focus in the coming days will also be on adapting to changing times and technology and improvise on the quality of our trainings to ensure that our youth is trained on market relevant skills,” he added at a press conference in New Delhi.

The Minister said that the Ministry has operationalised over 450 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKK) in the last two years “which are state-of-the-art infrastructure for skill training in the country”.

“By the end of 2018, country’s 700 districts will have a PMKK each, with the help of industry and our training partner ecosystem,” he said, adding, “Over the next one quarter (July, August, Sept) we will aim to link one lakh skilled students to entrepreneurship.”

With emphasis on bringing scale and speed along with standards to the skill ecosystem and improving employment opportunities, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship launched its flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) in 2015, under which close to 50 lakh candidates have been trained across the country.

PMKVY targets to train one crore youth by 2020.

More than Rs. 3000 crores have been allocated to states under PMVKY funds with a total training target of more than 20 lakhs between the period of 2016-2018.

Under the Fee Based skill training, the number of training centres have been increased to 11,035 and close to a crore youth have been trained so far.

Since the inception of MSDE, there has been a 32 per cent increase in ITI count and 54 per cent increase in seating capacity since 2014.

“Recognising the involvement of multiple stakeholders in Skill Development, spanning Central Ministries and State Governments, our priority has been to standardise Skill Development interventions with respect to intended outcomes. Towards this, we have developed Common Norms on skill outcomes expected of similar training programs, irrespective of who is running it. All skilling initiatives will be aligned to a common framework approved by the government and the industry,” Pradhan said.

MSDE has also increased the scope of apprenticeship beyond manufacturing, by making it available in short-term training and service-based trades, under its National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS). More than 3.95 lakh apprentices have been trained under NAPS and more than 48000 companies have registered themselves under the scheme.

In the past eight months, MSDE has imparted skills training through short-term special projects, including a training project for commercial sex workers in Delhi, working with Delhi Police to skill juvenile clusters and in supporting Delhi Police’s Yuva project, and promoting traditional artisans through Skill cum Common Facility Centre in Odisha to promote local filigree artisans.

At the event, which was also attended by MoS MSDE Anantkumar Hegde, Pradhan also unveiled a special commemorative booklet which outlined the achievement and new initiatives under Skill India.