India’s ‘demographic dividend’ faces the dual challenge of paucity of highly trained workforce and unemployable educated youth with little or no on-the-job skills. To bridge this gap, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government began the much-touted ‘Skill India’ programme, dovetailing other ambitious programmes like Make-in-India, Digital India, Smart Cities, Start-Up India and Stand-Up India.
As one of the youngest nations of the world with more than 62 per cent of its population in the working group of 15 to 59 years, India has a burgeoning aspirational generation. Modi set up the Ministry for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in November 2014 to focus specifically on this area.
The National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 identified a skills gap of 109.73 million people in 24 key sectors of the economy by 2022. It would be impossible to fill this gap without taking into account the bottom-of-the-pyramid 55 million from rural India who are in the age group of 18-34 years.
To specifically address the skilling and employment needs of the rural youth, the Modi government launched the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) on 25 September 2014. This scheme was tasked with diversifying the incomes of the rural poor and catering to the employment aspirations of the young.
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A skilling ecosystem has since been created that includes the Ministry of Rural Development, the National Mission Management Unit (NMMU or NU), state missions, project implementing agencies (PIA) or training partners and technical support agencies. The unique feature of the scheme is internships and industry partnerships that have enabled a minimum placement of 70 per cent for trained candidates and a lower end of a monthly salary of Rs 6,000 each.
The DDU-GKY places a stipulation that 50 per cent of the candidates needs to be from the SC/ST community; 15 per cent from minorities; 33 per cent women and 3 per cent people with disabilities.
The PIA training that follows ranges from a minimum of 3 months to a maximum of 1 year, and allows for on-the-job-training (OJT) as well. A mandated 160 hours of training is on soft skills, functional English and computer literacy. Additionally, a finishing module called ‘work readiness training’ ensures candidates are job ready.
Post-training, independent third parties assess the skills acquired. This, too, is facilitated by the government. Successful candidates are then provided with government recognised and co-branded Skill Certificates. A candidate is considered ‘placed’ under the scheme if she/he has continuous 3-month employment. Even after placement, the candidates are provided with additional support for close to a year.
Aijaz Ahmad Dar, a 22-year-old man, hails from the interiors of Budgam district in Jammu and Kashmir. His father, a driver, struggled to make ends meet. Lack of specific job skills and political unrest in Kashmir led to Aijaz sitting idle at home. A friend advised him about the GKY scheme. The hospitality sector had always fascinated him and so he decided to opt for a course under it. “I had a counselling session in the training institute Orion Edutech Pvt. Ltd who assessed my aptitude. Apart from the training, I also received soft skills training that was very useful. Mock interview sessions were held that helped me prepare for job interviews,” Aijaz told me. His hard work bore fruits and Aijaz is now placed as a front office associate in Srinagar at a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlet. He earns a decent salary of Rs 14,700 per month and it has helped his family greatly.
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From across the country, in Manipur’s Nungsai Chiru village, K.S. Parlen Chiru has a similar tale to tell. “My father is 60 years old and my mother in her late 50s. I have three younger siblings whose responsibility, by and large, fall on me. I completed my 12thstandard education and wanted to secure a good job to support my large family. However, it was impossible to get one,” Chiru said. That is when one of the mobiliser teams of ThinkSkills Consulting Pvt. Ltd came on a visit to his village. He decided to opt for the food and beverage training course that they offered. He was given a 3-month intensive training session on communication skills, IT and service skills, and then sent for an interview. “I can’t tell you how nervous I was during the interview that was conducted over Skype for the position of a steward at Taco Bell in Bengaluru,” he said. He emerged successful and moved to Bengaluru for the job that pays him Rs 13,730 per month, in addition to food and accommodation. In just a few months, he was delighted to receive the Best Employee Award at Taco Bell. “I never thought I would be successful in life. Thanks to the Kaushal Yojana my life has changed completely. I am able to save money and send it back home to my family. I now want to get promoted soon to the next level in Taco Bell, and also save money to study further. I think it is possible!” he beams with excitement.
Santosh Bhatnagar, a 23-year-old woman from Udaipur in Rajasthan, completed her 10th standard education, but could not any study further due to lack of funds. She enrolled for the skilling course at NIFA Udaipur where she was taught courses on apparel stitching, basic computer training and communication skills. She then got placed as a sewing machine operator in Monetary Solutions earning Rs 12,500 per month. “Not only am I now financially empowered, but I just feel a lot more confident. I saw so many other women candidates at the training centre and all of them are placed. We keep meeting and sharing our experiences. Our instructors too kept supporting us for several months after the placement and enquiring about our new jobs. The pessimism that I used to deal with before is gone and I also feel hopeful that I can continue my studies up to graduation if I work and save up money for a few years,” she said.
Speaking to the elder sister of 26-year-old Neeraj from Haryana was an emotional experience. Not only had Neeraj lost his parents at a young age, but he also had speech and hearing problems. “We led a miserable life and I used to look after Neeraj. But at some point, he had to stand up on his own feet and take care of his life. I heard about the GKY scheme on the radio and got him enrolled there,” his sister told me. For two months, Neeraj was given rigorous training at the Navjyoti Global Solutions Pvt. Ltd and later accepted as a retail sales associate in Lemon Tree Hotels in March 2018. He manages to earn Rs 12,500 a month.
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These are merely a handful of inspiring stories that emerge from the DDU-GKY scheme. Since its inception, it has spread its reach across 21 states and union territories, covering 568 districts and impacting youth from more than 6,215 blocks. The current statistic is that more than 690 projects have been implemented by over 300 partners, in more than 330 trades from 82 industry sectors. With an investment of over Rs 5,600 crores, more than 2.7 lakh candidates have been trained and over 1.34 lakh candidates placed in jobs already.
The Grameen Kaushal Yojana is testament to the fact that with just a few months of training, hard work, the right ecosystem, not only can our youth be imparted with skills, but also empowered to lead a life of dignity, confidence and self-reliance.
This is the seventh part of a series on the author’s conversations with beneficiaries of schemes launched by the Narendra Modi government. Read the others here.
The author is a writer/historian/political analyst and a Senior Research Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.