Skilling is important because of the
following factors:
Demographic dividend: Most major
economies of the world have an aging population. India, with a favorable demographic
dividend, can grab this opportunity and serve the manpower market. But, for
this adequate skilling is to be provided to up the employability. To capitalize
on this, there is only a narrow demographic window, that of a few decades.
The percentage of the workforce
receiving skill training is low compared to
other countries like Germany, Japan, South Korea etc.
Sectoral mobilization: As productivity improves in agriculture due to increased mechanization, there will be fewer people required in the farming sector. There will thus be a shift from this sector to other secondary and tertiary activities.
Skill India Objectives
The chief objective of the Skill
India Mission is to provide market-relevant skills training to more than 40
crore young people in the country by the year 2022.
The mission intends to create
opportunities and space for the development of talents in Indian youth.
It aims to develop those sectors
which have been put under skill development for the last many years, and also
to recognize new sectors for skill development.
Other objectives are:
Closing the gap between skill required by the industry and skills people possess for employment generation.
Reducing poverty in the country.
Increasing the competitiveness of
Indian businesses.
Ensuring that skill training
imparted is relevant and of quality.
Preparing Indians to take on the
world manpower/resources market.
Diversifying the existing skill
development programmes to meet today’s challenges.
Building actual competencies rather
than giving people mere qualifications.
Offering opportunities for lifelong
learning for developing skills.
Augmenting better and active
engagement of social partners and building a strong public-private partnership
in skill development.
Mobilizing adequate investments for
financing skills development sustainable.
Features of Skill India
There are many features to the Skill
India Mission that make it different from the previous skill development
missions.
The focus is on improving the
employability of the youth so that they get employment and also enhances
entrepreneurship among them.
The mission offers training,
guidance, and support for all traditional types of employment like weavers,
cobblers, carpenters, welders, masons, blacksmiths, nurses, etc.
New domains will also be emphasised
on such as real estate, transportation, construction, gem industry, textiles,
banking, jewellery designing, tourism, and other sectors where the level of
skill is inadequate.
Training imparted would be of
international standards so that India’s youth get jobs not only in India but
also abroad where there is demand.
An important feature is the creation
of a new hallmark ‘Rural India Skill’.
Customised need-based programmes
would be started for specific age groups in communication, life, and positive
thinking skills, language skills, behavioural skills, management skills, etc.
The course methodology would also
not be unconventional and would be innovative. It would involve games,
brainstorming sessions, group discussions, case studies, and so on.
Sub-schemes under Skill India
Skill India is an umbrella mission
under which there are multiple schemes and programmes with specialised focus
areas. The sub-schemes are as follows.
National Skill Development Mission (NSDM)
The NSDM was launched for creating
convergence across various sectors and different states with respect to
activities relating to skills training. The mission, apart from consolidating
and coordinating skilling efforts, would also facilitate decision making across
sectors to achieve quality skilling on a large scale.
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
PMKVY is a skill certification
scheme that aims to encourage the young population of the country to take up
training which is industry-relevant and builds them in skill development.
The scheme contains many specialised
components such as the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF),
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), Kaushal, and Rozgar Melas among others.
Indian Skill Development Service
The Indian Skill Development
Services (ISDS) is a new central government service that has been created
especially for the training directorate of the Ministry of Skill Development
and Entrepreneurship. It is a Group ‘A’ service and is expected to give a big
push to the government’s skilling initiatives by drastically enhancing the
effectiveness and efficiency of the various schemes in this domain. The
qualifying exam for this service is the Indian Engineering Service Exam
conducted by the UPSC. The idea behind the ISDS is to attract young and
talented people into the skill development domain and make skilling initiatives
successful in the country.
National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015
The chief objective of this policy
is to match the challenge of skilling at scale with speed, standard (quality),
and sustainability. It aims to offer an umbrella framework to all skilling activities
carried out within India, to align them to common standards and connect
skilling with demand centres. In addition to laying down the objectives and
expected outcomes, the policy also identifies the overall institutional
framework which will act as a means to achieve the expected results.
Skill Loan Scheme
Under this scheme, loans ranging
from Rs.5000 to Rs. 1.5 lakhs will be provided for those seeking to attend
skill development programmes. The idea behind the scheme is to remove financial
hurdles for people who want to upgrade their skills and learn new skills.
Other schemes:
The Ministry is implementing many
other schemes in the skill development domain along with the above major
schemes. One such important scheme is the Pradhan Mantri Yuva Udyamita Vikas
Abhiyan (PM-YUVA).