New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Rural Development is planning to revamp its skill development initiative Deen Dayal Upadhyaya-Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and include gig work and self-employment as other modes of employment in its revised guidelines, ThePrint has learnt. Just around 61 percent of youth trained under the scheme have gotten jobs since its rollout in 2014.
The guidelines for DDU-GKY 2.0 are expected to be notified in February and are likely to be implemented later this year, two senior officials of the rural development ministry told ThePrint.
A slew of new initiatives such as loans for advanced training, focus on rural youth in aspirational districts, and relaxation in training and placement norms are proposed to be included in the revamped guidelines to provide rural youth an alternate livelihood option, the officials said.
According to the NITI Aayog, there are 112 aspirational districts, which are the most underdeveloped districts across the country.
Launched in December 2014, the DDU-KYU is a demand-driven, placement-linked skill training initiative under which rural youth aged between 15 and 35 years and belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families are provided skill training for three months to a year in over 30 sectors such as aviation, hospitality and tourism, healthcare, food processing, and construction work. A candidate is considered placed only if he/she has been employed for three continuous months in a year.
Around 15.76 lakh rural youth will have been trained against the target of 18 lakh till the end of financial year 2023-24, according to information available on the DDU-GKY website. Of the trained students, 9.64 lakh (61.1 percent) have been placed so far, the data shows.
Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh are some of the states that have trained the highest number of students, the website shows.
Citing issues in placement and difficulty in implementation of the scheme on the ground, a senior ministry official who didn’t want to be named said: “The guidelines are being revised to iron out the hurdles in the implementation of the scheme. The DDU-GKY 2.0 guidelines, which have been under revision for over two years now, will be notified in February. We will then prepare the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and the scheme.”
Ministry and state government officials also attribute the low realisation of placement targets under the scheme to the COVID-19 pandemic, when physical training was discontinued for over a year. Even after the training resumed, the official said, states and the training partners (Project Implementing Agency) took time to mobilise rural youth.
According to Jafar Malik, executive director of the Kerala government’s poverty eradication and women empowerment programme Kudumbashree, physical training resumed only in September 2021 due to the pandemic.
“Due to this and other technical issues, we have not been able to meet the target set in the second action plan for 2019-2023 and have an outstanding target of around 31,000 people,” he said.
The low placement numbers and the delay in getting students placed in various sectors were among the key reasons for the ministry to initiate revision in the scheme’s guidelines, according to senior officials. There were issues raised by various states regarding the difficulty faced by them in implementing the scheme.
“While the revision of guidelines started over two years back, last year, the ministry had set up a committee of senior officials to look into the issue and propose changes to increase placement of students. The committee’s recommendations have been incorporated and will be placed before the rural development minister for approval and final notification,” a second senior ministry official told ThePrint.
ThePrint reached officials of the Union Ministry of Rural Development for comment via WhatsApp and email. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
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Bid to increase employability, focus on aspirational districts
Under the current norms, a student will be considered placed only if he/she gets wage employment for three continuous months.
However, according to the officials quoted earlier, the rural development ministry has proposed increasing the placement period to six months, including gig workers and the self-employed under the policy, as well as addressing the issue of discontinuity in jobs. Therefore, under the proposed changes, a student will be considered placed if he/she gets a semi-skilled wage for six months in a year irrespective of discontinuity in service or job.
“Gig workers were not included as they don’t have a conventional employee-employer relationship. But a lot of people now are engaged as gig workers. Also, after getting training under DDU-GKY, many students have started their own work. But as these are not included in the present norms, these people are not considered placed,” an official sad.
The revision proposed in the guidelines says that a student in a semi-skilled job for six months in a year would be considered placed, even if there is a break for a few months, it is learnt.
“These changes will play a vital role in better placement of candidates,” the official said.
The ministry has also proposed several new initiatives such as providing loans to students who have undergone training under DDU-GKY for further studies, social audits, and a special focus on 112 aspirational districts.
“We have a special component under DDU-GKY under which skill training and placement are provided to rural youth in 27 Left-wing extremism districts. But now, it is proposed to focus on all the aspirational districts,” the official said.
Skill gap assessment needed, say states
While officials in states say that a revision of DDU-GKY is needed, they also stress the need to upgrade training curriculum to industry standards and a skill gap assessment.
“In Kerala, a majority of people get training in tourism, hospitality, and maritime sectors. But one issue raised by prospective employers is that the course curriculum is not as per the industry standard,” Kudambashree executive director Jafar Malik, quoted earlier, told ThePrint. “They say there have been several changes in the industry, especially the hospitality sector, in the past few years, but these are not incorporated in the course curriculum.”
State government officials also say that there is a need to include more courses — including in the latest technology — based on demand.
M.K.V Sreenivasulu, chief executive officer of the Society for Employment Generation and Enterprise Development in Andhra Pradesh (SEEDAP), told ThePrint that there was a need to conduct skill gap assessments to know the kind of courses required based on the demand of various industries or sectors.
SEEDAP is Andhra Pradesh’s nodal agency for implementing the central and state governments’ skilling programmes in the state.
“Also, there is a need to have courses on the latest technology so the demand for skilled workers can be met. We are now collaborating with companies before starting the training so that we can train students according to industry requirements along with the course curriculum,” Sreenivasulu said.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)