HRD ministry looks to revise its skill development plan

NEW DELHI: The human resource development ministry is planning to revisit its ambitious skill development programme — the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana by technical institutes (PMKVY-TI) — two years after it was launched, officials aware of the matter said on Saturday.

The scheme aims to meet the large requirement of skilled persons in the core engineering sectors by training dropouts from the higher education system.

“In a meeting of higher education sector regulators, the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), it has been decided that 20 best and 20 worst-performing institutions under the scheme would be identified, and a joint workshop will be conducted with them,” said a senior ministry official, requesting anonymity.

The official said the skill development programme is expected to benefit as many as 1.6 lakh students this year.

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is implementing the PMKVY-TI scheme where institutes, during nonworking hours, impart engineering skills to unemployed youth and help them find placement in suitable private-sector jobs.

The scheme launched in October 2016, was aimed at upgrading the skill levels of upto 10 lakh students in three years.

“During the meeting chaired by HRD secretary R Subrahmanyam, it was felt that the workshop was needed to check if there were improvements that could be made based on the experience during the first two years,” the official said.

Another suggestion was that there should be a comprehensive process for the identification of school dropouts within a five-km radius of the institute who would benefit from the scheme, the official added.