Marking the Second Foundation Day of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy launched the Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana, the ministry's flagship scheme on entrepreneurship education and training.
The scheme spans over five years (2016-17 to 2020-21) with a project cost of Rs 499.94 crore, and will provide entrepreneurship education and training to over 7 lakh students in 5 years through 3,050 institutes. It will also include easy access to information and mentor network, credit, incubator and accelerator and advocacy to create a pathway for the youth.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said: "With this the government has taken important strides to scale up entrepreneurship in the country. He said, Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana has national and international best practices of learning in entrepreneurship education."
The institutes under the scheme include 2,200 institutes of higher learning (colleges, universities, and premier institutes), 300 schools, 500 ITIs and 50 entrepreneurship development centres, through open online courses.
The announcement was made at a day-long national conference of state ministers on "Skilling with quality", which saw more than 80 per cent of the states making their representations.
The conference emphasised on the need for strengthening institutional mechanisms for skill development at the state level and bringing in a more robust framework ensuring quality output, outcome and impact on the youth of our country.
MSDE communicated that it has plans to disburse around Rs 7n000 crore to states to help align them with the Center's skill development agenda and work in conjunction with them to ensure a robust ecosystem.
MSDE Secretary Rohit Nandan said, "Skills have to maintain a certain baseline standard and we should not get caught in the numbers. Skills cannot be compromised at any cost and States should partner with the Centre to verify and grade ITIs and training partners so that quality and standards can be maintained."
He said the Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) will work closely with the local authorities and industries towards job aggregation.
Those who perform well will be incentivised while those who do not perform will have to leave.
Rudy also unveiled the guidelines for state engagement under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 2.0 (2016-2020).
The guidelines provide a framework for the state government's role and processes, the funding support and the scheme's implementation and monitoring mechanism.
MSDE has allocated around Rs 3,000 crore of 25% from the funds earmarked for the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) to the states to achieve its target of training 10 million people over 4 years.
The ministry also emphasised on increasing engagement with apprentices under the "National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme". Under this scheme, the central government will share 25 per cent of prescribed stipend subject to a maximum of Rs 1,500 per month per apprentice with the employers.
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