Govt asks IIM, JNU to review its skill scheme
AUDIT Centre wants a thirdparty to evaluate its flagship project and suggest changes
The Centre has decided to reach out to reputed academic institutions to evaluate its ambitious skill development programmes, which have faced questions over their effectiveness.
The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is in talks with IIM- Bangalore, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Harvard Business School, University of Pennsylvania, Deakin University of Australia, and Delhi School of Economics to carry out a review of the scheme.
The NSDC is the execution agency of the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship. Official sources said that the ministry has taken this decision in consultation with the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Centre’s skill development schemes had earlier faced flak for sub-standard quality of training centres and fraudulent enrolment of trainees under the Union government’s flagship Skill India programme.
“We would like to know the number of youths trained so far and whether these schemes have been able to bring any change in their lives and upgrade their living standards,” Manish Kumar, the corporation’s CEO and managing director told Hindustan Times, explaining the need for the government to engage academic institutes for “analytical study” of skill development schemes and report what’s working and what’s not.
“We have asked these institu- tions to do an in-depth research and provide information about the results and effects of skill development plans. With this we will get to know the gaps that can be bridged,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi launched the scheme in July 2015 with a corpus of ₹1,500 crore and an aim to train 2.4 million youth. But the first phase saw just 5% placement, that too mostly in low-skill blue-collar jobs. Despite the problems, the government upped the funds allocated to the skills training programme to ₹6,000 crore and introduced two new schemes .
The government claims to have trained about two million youth under the flagship Skill India programme but an HT investigation last month found inconsistencies in the quality of training centres and likely fraudulent trainee enrolment.
“What we are doing is intangible, unlike road construction which is tangible. It is difficult to make out the percentage of GDP changed because of these intangible inputs. But there are global methods to analytically study the schemes and make out their impact,” Kumar said.
Britain has long relied on Indian doctors to run its National Health Service (NHS) since it was founded in 1948, and the dependence is likely to increase after its exit from the European Union , as EU-trained doctors will no longer have the right to work here.
India is the largest source country of doctors in the NHS, after Britain: at present, there are 25,281 doctors in the NHS who gained their medical qualifications in India.
However, the nature of migration of Indian doctors has changed over the years. From thousands coming to Britain to work and settle, the recent trend sees them coming to train and then returning, as the growing Indian health sector provides more opportunities.
Ramesh Mehta, president of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (Bapio), said on Wednesday that the experience of Indian doctors in the NHS had not always been positive, but revealed that new systems had been put in place to improve the situation.
“Britain’s historical dependence on India for doctors and health professionals will increase after Brexit. Many patients died when EU-trained doctors with poor English and other skills worked in the NHS, but they could not be barred as the UK is a member of the EU”.
Mehta told HT: “But after Brexit, they will not have the automatic right to work, which will turn the NHS more towards India to meet the vacancies, given the better clinical and language skills of India doctors”.
Figures show that Indian doctors are the most complained against among non-EU trained doctors. A new report by experts at the University College London revealed that they are five times more likely to face inquiries than their UK-trained counterparts.
We have asked these institutions to do an indepth research and provide information about the results and effects of skill development plans. With this, we will get to know the gaps that can be bridged.