The Government has taken various initiatives to promote skill development training through the use of information technology across all sections of the society including small and local entrepreneurs to make them use the internet effectively for their businesses. Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is taking various initiatives in this direction through its Autonomous Institutes i.e National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) and Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE).

           National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Meta on 4^th September, 2023 to support the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem. The aim of the MoU is to provide aspiring and current small business owners with the necessary tools, knowledge, and resources to thrive in today's dynamic market environment and to train budding and existing entrepreneurs in digital marketing skills by Meta platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram in seven regional languages. Further, NIESBUD organizes Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDP), for different target groups who wish to become self-reliant and start their nano and micro enterprises. The module of Digital Literacy and Digital Marketing is incorporated in the curriculum of EDPs. The details of beneficiaries imparted training on Digital Literacy under different projects is at Annexure-I.

Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati, an Autonomous Institute under the administrative control of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has conducted various skill development programs to help small or local entrepreneurs to use the internet effectively for their businesses, such as online transactions, online selling and purchasing of goods. IIE has conducted various Entrepreneurship Development Training programmes under the aegis of Central Government Departments as well as State Government Departments under various schemes like Digi-Bunai skill training programmes sponsored by the Digital India Corporation, Entrepreneurship Development Training under PM-DAKSH Scheme sponsored by National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation (NBCFDC), National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC), Skills Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE) project sponsored by Directorate General of Training (MSDE). IIE has developed a series of course curriculum focusing on various topics of entrepreneurship development along with digital literacy, so that small or local entrepreneurs are able to use digital marketing platforms, internet, digital transaction platforms for making their growth of their business.

           Further, in order to promote skilling in emerging technologies and integrate them with the existing vocational training framework, IT-ITeS Sector Skill Council has developed 54 NSQF (National Skills Qualification Framework) aligned job roles in areas like Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, Robotic Process Automation, Block Chain and Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality. Also, Directorate General of Training (DGT) under MSDE has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with big companies like IBM, CISCO, Quest Alliance, and Microsoft for short term training courses in new age technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI). Course content of these programs are available online on Bharat Skills Portal.

The National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT), an autonomous Scientific Society under the administrative control of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY),  through its own centres and associated training partners is implementing various skill development and capacity building projects/schemes funded by MeitY wherein the beneficiaries includes small or local entrepreneurs. The details of such projects /schemes are at Annexure-II.

Further, MeitY implemented the project titled “Skill Development of Youth in Digital Technologies in Tier-II and Tier-III Cities in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand” for skill-oriented training in different IT and ITES-related technologies to the youth in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand with the purpose of improving their employability and entrepreneurial capabilities for training in Digital marketing, Animation, Designing, Editing, etc. So far, 800 candidates were trained in digital (Marketing/Advertising Sales/ Traffic) in various districts of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The details of the project are at Annexure–III.

Annexure-I

(i)      The State-wise number of trainees imparted training under the project during 2021-24 under the Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness of Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) Programme.

(ii) The State-wise number of Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) trainees imparted Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) training during 2022-23.

(iii) The State-wise number ofNational Skill Training Institutes (NSTI)/ Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) trainees imparted training under Skills Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE) project during 2022-24 (till May 2024) is as under:

Annexure-II

Annexure-III

This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship Shri Jayant Chaudhary in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

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