PM to youth: Skill, reskill & upskill

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted the youth to skill, reskill and upskill in order to remain relevant in the rapidly changing business environment and market conditions, saying that the coronavirus has changed the workplace.

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Despite the fact that since its inception, the Skill India or Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) has managed to provide employment only to 40 per cent of the 40 lakh youths it has managed to train between 2016 and 2020, the Prime Minister on Wednesday claimed that more than five crore youths have been skilled in the last five years under the scheme.

Speaking on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of PMKVY, Mr Narendra Modi said that creation of a vast infrastructure under the scheme for skilling, reskilling and upskilling has enhanced opportunities to access employment both locally and globally. “It has led to hundreds of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras being set up across the country and increase in the capacity of the ITI ecosystem. Due to these concerted efforts, more than five crore youth have been skilled in the last five years,” he

Narendra Modi

said. He was virtually addressing the Digital Skills Conclave held on the occasion of the World Youth Skills Day. PMKVY was launched on this day in 2015.

This newspaper had reported on June 9, 2020 that as per official figures of the Skill Development Ministry, between 2016 and 2020 60 lakh youths were to be trained and provided placement under PMKVY. However till January 2020, only 40 lakh youths could be trained under Skill India and out of these only 16 lakh could be provided employment.

The failure of the scheme to achieve its original target also punches holes in the Centre’s claim of reskilling guest workers who were forced to return to their native places on foot after the sudden announcement of lockdown on March 24 this year in the aftermath of the Corona virus pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister exhorted the youth to skill, reskill and upskill in order to remain relevant in the rapidly changing business environment and market conditions. He congratulated the youth of the country on the occasion and said the world belongs to the youth due to their ability to acquire new skills.