Over 11 mn trained, 2.4 million placed under flagship skilling plan, says govt

New Delhi: More than 11.1 million candidates were certified under a skill training programme in the seven years up to FY23 and over 2.4 million people have been reported placed for mandatory on-the-job training by the end of FY25, the government informed Parliament.

About 14.56 lakh Scheduled Caste candidates were certified, and 3.74 lakh people have been reported placed, while among 5.08 lakh Scheduled Tribe candidates certified, 1.27 lakh secured placements under the programme, the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship informed the Parliament on Monday, citing data on Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).

Queries emailed to the ministry remained unanswered until press time.

In response to a query raised by Telangana MP Mallu Ravi, Jayant Chaudhary, the minister of state (independent charge) of skill development and entrepreneurship, said that under the Centre’s Skill India Mission (SIM), the ministry delivers skill, re-skill and up-skill training through an extensive network of skill development centres under various schemes such PMKVY, Jan Sikhshan Sansthan (JSS), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) and Craftsman Training Scheme (CTS) through Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), to all the sections of the society across the country.

To improve employability and align training with industry requirements, the minister said several measures have been introduced, including regulatory oversight through the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) and the development of skill qualifications linked to industry demand.

According to the ministry, 36 Sector Skill Councils have been set up to identify skill requirements across industries and define competency standards.

Emerging skills

“In addition, the Directorate General of Training (DGT) has introduced new courses in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, cyber security, drone technology and 5G network maintenance to align skill training with evolving industry needs,” the ministry said.

The government has also partnered with technology companies such as IBM, Cisco, Microsoft and AWS to strengthen industry linkages and provide training in modern technologies.

"It is real workplace exposure that ultimately gets one a job, although it can be aided by having a qualification. Even though initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana have played a significant role in ensuring access to skills development across India, the next stage is to ensure that skills development is translated into job outcomes,” said Sonal Arora, country manager at GI Group Holding, a global staffing solutions provider.

“This can be achieved by strengthening apprenticeships, as it will equip individuals with work experience, helping businesses to develop talent that is job-ready. Initiatives in skilling can be a much more effective way of ensuring job fulfilment by equipping individuals with a qualification as well as work experience," Arora said.

“Under PMKVY 4.0, the focus was to empower our trained candidates to choose their varied career path and they are suitably oriented for the same. Further, various IT tools like Skill India Digital hub also gives this opportunity,” the ministry said in its reply.

The ministry has been implementing its flagship PMKVY since 2015. Under the scheme, youth across the country receive skill training through short-term training and recognition of prior learning, which focuses on re-skilling and up-skilling.

The current phase of the programme, PMKVY 4.0, aims to provide skill training to 1.5 crore candidates between FY23 and FY26.

The Union Budget for 2026–27 has proposed an allocation of ₹9,885.80 crore for the ministry, marking a sharp increase from the revised estimate of ₹2,703.54 crore for 2025–26. The allocation for the current fiscal year had earlier been budgeted at ₹6,100 crore, but was later reduced at the revised estimate stage, according to budget documents.