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Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana data till april 25: Of 17.58 lakh candidates skilled, 81,978 get placed -Aanchal Magazine & Anil Sasi
-The Indian Express

Ministry cites ‘incomplete data’ as primary reason for low placement numbers.

“Kaushal Bharat, Kushal Bharat” — it’s with this slogan that the government had launched its ambitious Skill India Mission in July last year, but the transformation from Kaushal to Kushal seems to be faltering at the last mile.

While the government claimed to have trained twenty lakh people under its flagship Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), which works out to an average of about 6,600 persons trained or upskilled every single day over last ten months, peeling off the layers of this success story reveals a less compelling narrative.

Only 81,978 of these trained candidates have managed to secure placements since the launch of the scheme in July 2015, according to official data updated till April 25, 2016. The placement to skilling ratio works out to less than 0.5 per cent, if official data for those extended training and placed till that date were to be taken into consideration.

Under the scheme, which aims to mobilise a large number of youth to take up outcome-based skill training and make them employable, a total of 17.58 lakh candidates or about 6,279 candidates per day were trained till April 25, as per official estimates of the Ministry of Skill Development that were submitted before a parliamentary panel. The certification figures are also dismal, with only 5.77 lakh candidates being certified as on April 25, 2016.

Responding to a query by The Indian Express on these numbers, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said the number of certified candidates as of June 7 was recorded at 11.2 lakh. That translates into an average certification of 12,628 candidates per day between April 26 and June 7, as against an average of 2,060 workers being certified per day since the launch of the scheme on July 15, 2015 till April 25, 2016. The ministry did not provide specific details regarding the number of those who have found placement under the scheme, while citing “incomplete data” as the primary reason for the low reported placement numbers.

According to the ministry, the total enrollment under PMKVY as of June 7 stood at “19.7 lakh (rounded off to 20 lakh)”, including short-term training imparted to 17.94 lakh persons and those trained under the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) at 1.79 lakh persons.

State-wise data, which is available till April 25, 2016, shows a distribution skew in the nationwide distribution of skill training, with six states — Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan — accounting for over 50 per cent of those trained. The data shows that UP leads with 2,52,304 trainees, followed by 1,56,096 in MP. Tamil Nadu comes a close third with 1,50,244 trainees, followed by 1,22,866 in Andhra Pradesh, 1,13,397 in West Bengal and 1,11,235 in Rajasthan.

The state-wise figures reflect poor performance of trainees getting certified. Around 78,189 candidates were certified in UP, accounting for only 31 per cent of the total trained people in the state under the scheme. The same dismal performance is seen in Madhya Pradesh with only 47,831 people being certified under the scheme.

Despite the financial incentive, workers leaving the skilling programme midway is one of the biggest problems faced by the government, in part responsible for the fact that just about a third of those trained ultimately end up being certified.

After a 15-month rollout across five states, the RPL scheme — a sub-component of the PMKVY project that aims to certify the skills acquired by workers in the unorganised sectors through traditional, non-formal learning channels — has run into headwinds, with a number of selected trainees leaving midway through the certification process. The trend in lower number of certified candidates is a big concern for policy makers.

“The experience during the course of the pilot showed that a large number of construction workers invariably left the designated work site for other sites, mostly for better wages or personal problems, thereby leaving the certification process half-way. We are now tweaking the programme to address,” an official said.

On the low placements under the scheme, government officials said that such schemes are not employment generating schemes and an assured placement is never promised under such schemes. “These are skill imparting schemes which increase the employability prospects of a candidate. Under the scheme, the government imparts four types of skills–skilling, reskilling, upskilling and RPL, but a placement is not guaranteed,” a senior government official said on condition of anonymity.

The ministry in its official response to queries sent by The Indian Express said: “Tracking of placements was not a mandatory feature of the scheme which is why most training partners did not capture this data. Only a few training partners have reported placements on the portal, on a voluntary basis. Thus, incomplete data regarding this is the primary reason for low reported placement numbers. However, the MIS for the next phase of the scheme in FY17 accounts for mandatory tracking of placements of candidates. The alignment of the new phase of the scheme to the common norms for skill development programmes also links fund disbursements to a minimum placement achievement”.

Also, the ministry said that only candidates who have passed and hold a validated ID as well as bank account, are considered certified. “The remaining candidates are in the process of updating their IDs and bank accounts, after which they would be certified upon successfully passing the assessment conducted,” it said. Results have been uploaded for 18.3 lakh candidates so far.

The PMKVY scheme imparts training based on industry-aligned National Occupational Standards through training providers and Sector Skill Councils. Candidates are eligible for a monetary reward upon successful completion of their training and also clearing the assessment by an independent assessment agency appointed by the respective Sector Skill Council. Moreover, the candidates also receive a government recognised certificate which helps them become gainfully employed.