As per a report, formal employment in India grew by 28.6% between FY2019 and FY2020. Nonetheless, while there was a surge of employment generation in the formal sector, youth unemployment also reached an all-time high in the last year. To counter the growing unemployment over the past few years, the government has already introduced several schemes, of which the Skill India campaign has been the most notable.
Launched in 2015 by the Central Government, the objective of this campaign was to proffer industry-related skill development training to over 40 crore Indians, and consequently expand the scope of job opportunities for them. Following is a look at how the government is planning to boost employability among the Indian youth through such endeavours.
What are some of the schemes under the Skill India campaign?
The principal objective of the Skill India campaign is to create opportunities that help harness the talents of India’s youth for the betterment of the country’s economy. With such goals in its purview, the campaign has put forth several schemes and programmes that target to develop the entrepreneurial and vocational skills of enrolled individuals.
Few of the schemes introduced under this Skill India training include –
- Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana
- Standard Training Assessment and Reward Scheme
- Vocationalisation of education
- Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion
- Polytechnic Schemes
- UDAAN
Individuals trained under any of these mentioned schemes can come out sufficiently skilled for a blue-collar job. Furthermore, programmes included under these schemes also impart training for the areas which allow one to sharpen his/her entrepreneurial skills and subsequently emerge successful in various pursuits. One can even avail a loan against property to start a business after availing training under these schemes.
Among the plethora of programs included under India’s Skill Development campaign, the most significant is Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana or PMKVY. This particular flagship programme aims at improving working efficiency and employable skills of existing wage earners by proffering them quality training and monetary rewards.
PMKVY has three principal components under its tutelage, namely –
- Imparting short term training (STT) – Under this component, school and college dropouts, alongside unemployed individuals are provided training as per the guidelines of the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).
- Special projects – Under this module, enrolled individuals are provided training for special jobs, including those under various industrial, corporate and government bodies.
- Recognition of prior learning – Under this component, individuals with existing skills and experience of prior training are recognised through assessment and certification. In this respect, one can successfully convert his/her prior knowledge pertaining to certain jobs into skills through Project Implementing Agencies.
The courses chalked out to fulfil the objectives mentioned above can span for durations of 3 months, 6 months and 1 year. The government pays up to Rs.8,000 as the fee for these courses, on behalf of enrolled individuals.
To enrol for any of the courses under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, one needs to fulfil the following eligibility criteria –
- He/she must be an Indian with a valid Aadhaar, voter ID or bank account.
- He/she must have dropped out of school or college and be unemployed under any sector, formal or informal.
The eligibility requirements for Skill India registration for such schemes are nominal, thus, allowing individuals to enrol for them without hassle.
With training imparted under the Skill India campaign at their disposal, individuals are better equipped to find employment, thus fulfilling the government’s aim of better job opportunities.
In this regard, if one fails to comply with the eligibility put forth under a given scheme, he/she can also choose to finance higher education with a loan against property.
Entrepreneurship opportunities through skill development
While increasing employability is one of the principal objectives of this campaign, the other aspect aims to propagate entrepreneurial skills to prospective individuals. However, even after being qualified to initiate their own ventures, most individuals fail to fulfil gathering the capital necessary to start a business.
In this regard, easily available advances like a loan against property can be extremely helpful in aiding one to set up his/her business venture.
This secured advance, available up to an amount of Rs.3.5 crore, can be utilised to fulfil a borrower’s diverse financial requirements without hassle. Furthermore, its features like instant approval and disbursal, a flexible tenor of up to 20 years, etc. make it one of the most convenient options to funds one’s business pursuits. With proper knowledge of how to use loan against property, individuals can set up any business, big or small, without hassle.
To make availing this advance faster and easier, one should also look for pre-approved offers from their lenders. These offers, available on various financial products, including loan against property, home loans, etc., streamline the process of loan application to quite an extent. You can check your pre-approved offer by providing your name and phone number.
As for the Skill India campaign, it is one of the most effective government schemes that can not only increase an individual’s employability but also proffer them the opportunity to start their own ventures with suitable financial support.