Marking the 2^nd Foundation Day of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Minister of State(I/C) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship  Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, , today launched the Pradhan Mantri YUVA Yojana, MSDE’s flagship scheme on entrepreneurship education and training.

The scheme spans over five years (2016-17 to 2020-21) with a project cost of Rs. 499.94 crore, and will provide entrepreneurship education and training to over 7 lakh students in 5 years through 3050 Institutes. It will also include easy access to information and mentor network, credit, incubator and accelerator and advocacy to create a pathway for the youth.

Speaking on the occassion Shri Rudy said, with this the government has taken important strides to scale up entrepreneurship in the country. He said, Pradhan Mantri YUVA Yojana has national and international best practices of learning in entrepreneurship education.

 He said, MSDE’s two institutions dedicated to entrepreneur education and training – NIESBUD and IIE- have trained more than 7 lakh trainees including 2,600 persons from more than 125 countries in the field of entrepreneurial skills till date. After becoming a part of this Ministry, these two institutes are now focusing on mentorship of budding entrepreneurs across the country. We have seen success so far and we are determined to create more opportunities of employment for our youth through this initiative,” he further added.

The institutes under the PM’s YUVA Yojana include 2200 Institutes of Higher Learning (colleges, universities, and premier institutes), 300 schools, 500 ITIs and 50 Entrepreneurship Development Centres, through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

The announcement on scheme was made at a day-long national conference of State Ministers on “Skilling with quality” which saw more than 80% of the States making their representations. The conference emphasised on the need for strengthening institutional mechanisms for skill development at the State level and bringing in a more robust framework ensuring quality output, outcome and impact on the youth of our country.

The conference explained Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship’s (MSDE) efforts in ensuring alignment to common norms, district level committees, best practices, special projects, disadvantage groups and a robust model for monitoring and validation and emphasised the needs for States to come forward and handhold districts in making all skill initiatives a success at the local level.

MSDE communicated that it has plans to disburse around INR 7000 crore to states to help align them with the centre’s skill development agenda and work in conjunction with them to ensure a robust ecosystem.

Addressing the Conference, Secretary MSDE Shri Rohit Nandan, said, Skills have to maintain a certain baseline standard and we should not get caught in the numbers. Skills cannot be compromised at any cost and States should partner with the Centre to verify and grade ITIs and Training Partners so that quality and standards can be maintained. The Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) will work closely with the local authorities and industries towards job aggregation. Those who perform well will be incentivised while those who do not perform will have to exit. 

The conference also saw Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, unveil the guidelines for State Engagement under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 2.0 (2016-2020) in the presence of State Ministers. The guidelines provide a framework for the State Government’s role and processes, the funding support and the scheme’s implementation and monitoring mechanism. MSDE has allocated around  3000 crore of 25% from the funds earmarked for the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) to the States, to achieve its target of training 10 million people over 4 years.

MSDE also unveiled the Lab Guidelines towards standardisation of lab equipment across skill development training centres in India at the conference. These guidelines specify the number of job roles that can be done in a lab, standard lab layout, and available brands of equipment which should be used. These guidelines will pave a pathway in increasing the employability of trained candidates across States ensuring industry standards. 

Emphasising on the importance of being self-sustainable, MSDE announced the institutionalisation of National Entrepreneurship awards for first generation achievers below 30 years, for the very first time. The Entrepreneurship Awards are proposed to be given on 16 January 2017. The young entrepreneur will be awarded in various sectors contributing to the economy of our country. Equal emphasis has been given to recognize the meaningful contribution of ecosystem builders in this award process. Equal focus has been given to recognize young people from socially disadvantaged groups.

“We believe that this initiative will motivate first generation entrepreneurs to improve and excel in their entrepreneurial pursuits, and inspire those who are a part of the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem to excel even further,” said Secretary Shri Rohit Nandan.

States like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh participating in the conference lauded the Centre’s endeavour to bring about convergence across regions and also shared their best practices on Quality Assurance for others to follow. States stated that the quality has to be engrained into the system right at the planning level and also ensured that the skilled workforce will be used for infrastructure and other developments within the region. State Minister from Uttar Pradesh also shared how there skilled workforce is being given international exposure by sending them abroad for training courses in skills like perfumery.

The Ministry also emphasised on increasing engagement with apprentices under the “National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme” under which the Government of India will share 25% of prescribed stipend subject to a maximum of Rs. 1500 per month per apprentice with the employers. In addition, Government will also support basic training, which is an essential component of apprenticeship training. It was advised that States may create a State Apprenticeship Cell and encourage engagement of apprentices to the maximum of 10% of total strength of private establishments and State Public Sectors.       

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AD/MB