PM Vishwakarma Yojana supports traditional artisans by modernizing their skills.
SANKALP (Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion)
About the Restructured Schemes
Restructured Skill India Programme
It is a composite Central Sector Scheme under MSDE.
Aim: To provide structured skill development, on-the-job training, and community-based learning ensuring access to high-quality vocational education.
Formal recognition of skills: All certifications are mapped to the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) and seamlessly integrated with DigiLocker and the National Credit Framework (NCrF).
Provides NSQF-aligned demand-driven skill training through Short-Term Training (STT) and reskilling and upskilling through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
Target beneficiary: 15-59 years
Future Skills: 400+ new courses on emerging technologies like AI, 5G technology, Cybersecurity, Green Hydrogen, Drone Technology etc.
Skill Hubs: Established across premier academic institutions like IITs, NITs, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs), CIPET etc.
International Mobility Initiatives: Equipping Indian workers with globally recognized skills through Mobility Partnership Agreements (MMPAs), sectorial skill gap studies and training in domain skills, soft skills etc.
India has signed MMPAs with 10 countries. E.g. France, Germany, Israel etc.
30 Skill India International Centers to be set up to cater to the demand for skilled workers for foreign countries.
Whole-of-government approach: Inter-ministerial convergence and "Ease of Doing Business" approach for seamless execution of skilling initiatives.
E.g. collaboration with PM Vishwakarma, PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, National Green Hydrogen Mission, NAL JAL Mitra etc.
Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) Scheme
Objective: Community-centric skilling initiative to provide vocational training to non-literates, neo-literates as well as school drop-outs in rural regions by identifying relevant skills in that region.
Target Beneficiary: 15-45 years
Inclusivity: Focus on women, rural youth, and economically disadvantaged groups.
JSS is linked with initiatives like PM JANMAN, Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society (ULLAS), etc. to promote inclusive skilling.
Pradhan Mantri National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (PM-NAPS)
Aimed at fostering apprenticeship training across India, ensuring apprentices gain industry-specific skills in both manufacturing and services through real-world exposure.
This is in accordance with the Apprenticeship Act, 1961.
Target Beneficiary: 14-35 years
Financial incentives to industries for engaging apprentices
25% of the stipend, up to Rs.1,500 per month per apprentice, will be provided by the Central Government through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
Future Skills: Apprenticeship opportunities in emerging fields such as AI, Industry 4.0 technologies etc.
Inclusivity: Promotes enrolment of apprentices in small establishments like MSMEs and underserved areas such as aspirational districts and North-East Region.
Need for Restructuring Skill India Mission
In-silos approach: Low impact of schemes like PM-NAPS, PMKVY, and JSS due to lack of convergence in impact on skilling of population.
Industry-academia linkage: Lack of industry-specific skilling leading to low employability.
E.g. Under PMKVY while 3,155,984 are enrolled, only 1,445,166 are certified and fewer are employed. (March 2025)
Others: Mismatch between demand and supply at the sectoral and spatial levels, limited mobility between skill and higher education programmes and vocational education and very low coverage of apprenticeship programmes.
Other Challenges to skilling
Fast-changing job market: The dynamics of the employment market require constant upskilling and reskilling which is not effectively available for all.
Lack of quality skilling: Lack of quality faculty, curriculum, lack of application-oriented learning methods etc. impact the quality of skilling.
This also limits the opportunities of international employment.
Governance issues: Multiplicity of assessment and certification leading to inconsistent outcomes and confusion among employers, and lack of assured wage premium for skilled workers.
Lack of Quality Infrastructure: Inadequate maintenance and lack of resources in skilling institutions.
Gender inequality: Low participation of women compared to men in skilling as well as labour force.
Way Forward
Evidence-based interventions: Improve mapping of skills to understand the job market and design programmes catering to the evolving needs of the employment market.
E.g. 36 Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), led by industry leaders set up by NSDC to identify the skill development needs of sectors and to determine skill competency standards.
Promote experiential learning: Strengthening vocational education and expanding apprenticeship opportunities.
Strengthen the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET)
Private sector participation: Encourage active involvement of industries and civil society in skilling through awareness generation, providing apprenticeship opportunities etc.
Learning from Global Best Practises:
Technical and Vocational Vouchers Program (TVVP), Kenya: To increase access to vocational education by stimulating supply of vocational training through vouchers.
Apprenticeship Levy, United Kingdom: To incentivise employers to recruit apprentices, the levy on employers is used to fund apprenticeship training.
