Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) — Overview and Vision
Vision:
“To create an ecosystem of empowerment by skilling on a large scale at speed with high standards, and to promote a culture of innovation-based entrepreneurship that generates wealth and employment, ensuring sustainable livelihoods for all citizens.”
Core Focus Areas:
Convergence
National Skill Development Mission (NSDM): Established in 2014; trains over 1 crore youth annually through various central programs.
Skill India Portal: Central IT platform integrating skilling data from ministries, states, private providers, and corporates, enabling data-driven policy and citizen access.
Increased Scale
Industrial Training Centres (ITIs): Increased ITIs by 12%, trainee enrolment up 37% (2014-2019).
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY): Flagship free skill training; ~87 lakh trained; >54% placed through employment-linked training.
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK): 681 centers operational, nearly 10 lakh trained, 4.35 lakh placed.
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL): Over 26 lakh people recognized for prior skills; partnerships with employers for formalizing skills.
Centre Accreditation: Nearly 12,000 centers accredited with annual capacity of 50 lakh trainees.
Skill Development in J&K and Leh: Focused initiatives to cover eligible beneficiaries and operationalize NSTI Jammu and extension in Leh.
SANKALP and STRIVE Programs: Focused on state-level incentive grants, ITI performance improvement, and apprenticeship capacity building.
International Collaboration: Partnerships with Singapore, UAE, Japan, Canada, Australia for skill development and transnational standards.
PM-YUVA Yojana: Entrepreneurship education pilot project targeting 70,000 youth and creating new enterprises by 2020.
Industry Collaborations: Partnerships with Reliance Jio, Cisco, Quest Alliance, Accenture to set up training labs and provide advanced skill training.
Meeting Aspirations
Kaushalyacharya Awards: Recognizing exceptional trainers.
National Entrepreneurship Awards (NEA): Promoting entrepreneurship with awards and prize money.
Skill Saathi Counseling Program: Counseling 40 lakh students on skill development avenues.
Vocational Course Policy: Promoting vocational education in schools with credit framework for higher education mobility.
Skill Hubs in Schools: Setting up 500 skill hubs/labs in government schools with CBSE collaboration.
Embedded Apprenticeship Degree Program: Integrating apprenticeship with degree courses in retail, media, logistics.
Apprenticeship Pakhwada: Promoting apprenticeship training with industry & state commitments.
India Institute of Skills (IIS): New premier skill institute in Mumbai in partnership with Tata Group to train 5,000 annually.
MoU with SBI: Apprenticeship for banking sector roles.
Skill Vouchers: Planned program for MSMEs to enhance training delivery and quality.
World Skills International Kazan 2019: India’s best-ever finish, winning multiple medals.
Improved Quality
Reforms to Apprenticeship Act 1961: Increased apprentice limits, simplified payment, flexible training duration.
Dual System of Training (DST): Industry-led training model scaled to 1000+ ITIs, expanded course coverage.
New Age Skills: Courses in IoT, 3D printing, drones, solar tech, geoinformatics introduced.
District Skill Committees (DSC): Grassroots skill gap assessment and local ecosystem strengthening under Sankalp.
Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship: Placement of young professionals in districts for skill planning and coordination.
Indian Skill Development Services (ISDS): New Group ‘A’ cadre for skill development administration, inducted via UPSC exams.
Community Mentors (Business Sakhis): Psycho-social and business mentoring for women entrepreneurs.
Train the Trainer Programs: Training of over 4000 trainers for employability, entrepreneurship, and life skills.
MIS Portal for Jan Shikshan Sansthan: Enhanced monitoring and scaling of adult education institutions.
eSkill India Platform: Multilingual e-learning portal offering courses in various sectors from top organizations with self-paced learning.
