Skilling and Livelihood Missions in India

Skilling and livelihood missions in India provide structured vocational training, micro-credit access, and entrepreneurial incubation to enhance employability and reduce poverty. These programmes operate through central ministries, state skill development missions, and self-help group federations. They integrate traditional craft support with modern technical education to build wage-earning capacity across rural and urban populations.

Institutional Framework for Skilling in India

The skilling ecosystem operates through dedicated governing bodies and standardisation councils set up to bridge the demand-supply gap in the labour market.

Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE)

• Established in November 2014 to drive the national skilling agenda and coordinate vocational training.
• Formulates national skill policies, manages industrial training institutes (ITIs), and handles international skill collaborations.
• Implements the National Skill Development Mission (NSDM) launched on World Youth Skills Day (July 15, 2015).

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)

• Set up in 2008 as a public-private partnership under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 (now Section 8).
• Promotes skill development by catalytic financing of private training initiatives and vocational institutes.
• Established 37 industry-led Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) to define occupational standards and job qualification packs.

National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET)

• Formed in 2018 by merging the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) and the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA).
• Functions as the overarching non-financial regulator for long-term and short-term vocational education.
• Enforces the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), a competency-based framework that organizes qualifications from level 1 to level 10.

Major Skilling and Apprenticeship Programmes

National skilling initiatives focus on demand-driven industry training, standardized certification, and on-the-job training.

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)

• Flagship short-term skill training scheme launched in 2015 and implemented through NSDC.
• Offers Short Term Training (STT) for school dropouts and unemployed youth, and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) to certify existing unorganized workforce competencies.
• Includes Special Projects to address tribal areas, marginalized communities, and specialized industrial sectors.
• Integrates future-ready competencies including artificial intelligence, data analytics, and green energy skills.

National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS)

• Launched in August 2016 to incentivize industrial establishments to engage apprentices.
• The central government directly reimburses 25% of the prescribed stipend paid to apprentices, up to Rs 1,500 per month per apprentice.
• Integrates with the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) run by the Ministry of Education for technical graduates and diploma holders.

World Bank Assisted Upgradation Projects

• SANKALP (Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion): Focuses on decentralized district-level skill planning, trainer academies, and institutional strengthening.
• STRIVE (Skills Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement): Aims to improve the operational efficiency of ITIs and expand apprenticeship programs through Industry Clusters (ICs).

PM Vishwakarma Scheme

• Launched in September 2023 under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, MSDE, and Ministry of Finance.
• Provides holistic support to traditional artisans and craftspeople across 18 identified traditional trades.
• Offers basic (5-7 days) and advanced (15 days) skill training with a daily stipend of Rs 500.
• Provides a toolkit incentive of Rs 15,000 via e-vouchers and collateral-free credit support up to Rs 3 lakh at a concessional interest rate of 5%.

Major Livelihood Missions in India

Livelihood programs emphasize community-led institutions, collective savings, micro-enterprise promotion, and sustainable self-employment.

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)

• Launched in June 2011 as Aajeevika by restructuring the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY).
• Implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development, with assistance from the World Bank.
• Focuses on universal social mobilization by bringing at least one woman member from each poor rural household into a Self-Help Group (SHG).
• Provides Revolving Funds (RF) of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 and Community Investment Support Funds (CIF) to SHG federations.
• Offers interest subvention on bank loans to ensure SHGs access credit at a net interest rate of 7% per annum.
• Sub-schemes include:
  • Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP): Improves agricultural livelihoods for women farmers through agro-ecological practices.
  • Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP): Supports rural non-farm enterprises and local Community Resource Persons (CRPs).
  • Lakhpati Didi Initiative: Aims to enable rural SHG women to earn a sustainable annual household income of at least Rs 1 lakh.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY)

• Launched in September 2014 as the placement-linked skill component under DAY-NRLM.
• Targets rural poor youth aged 15 to 35 years (upper age limit of 45 years for women, SC/ST, and persons with disabilities).
• Mandates guaranteed wage placement for at least 70% of trained candidates.

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM)

• Implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to reduce urban poverty.
• Operates core components:
  • Employment through Skills Training and Placement (EST&P): Imparts market-driven skills to urban poor.
  • Self-Employment Programme (SEP): Facilitates subsidized bank credit for individual micro-enterprises (up to Rs 2 lakh) and group enterprises (up to Rs 10 lakh).
  • Support to Urban Street Vendors (SUSV): Upgrades vending zones, conducts vendor enumeration, and issues vendor identity cards.
  • Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH): Funds construction and management of permanent round-the-clock municipal shelters.

Digital Enablers and Monitoring Platforms

Digital public infrastructure connects training centers, trainees, and enterprise databases in real time.

Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH)

• Unified digital platform launched in September 2023 by MSDE.
• Integrates national databases such as eShram, Udyam, National Career Service (NCS), and DigiLocker.
• Issues digital credentials, portable CVs, and verifiable skill certificates using QR codes.
• Operates in multiple Indian languages with mobile-first interfaces.

Bharat Skills Platform

• Developed by the Directorate General of Training (DGT) under MSDE.
• Serves as a central repository for digital study materials, instructional videos, and question banks for ITI courses and apprenticeship trades.

Facts on Skilling and Livelihoods in India

• The National Policy on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship was formulated in 2015, replacing the older 2009 policy framework.
• Sector Skill Councils are autonomous industry-led bodies licensed by NSDC to create National Occupational Standards (NOS).
• Kudumbashree in Kerala and Mission Shakti in Odisha are prominent state-level women self-help group missions aligned with DAY-NRLM.
• The Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) scheme, originally started as Shramik Vidyapeeth in 1967, provides non-formal vocational training to non-literates and neo-literates.
• Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) are managed by lead commercial banks with support from the Ministry of Rural Development to train rural youth for self-employment.
• The National Skills Qualification Framework defines 10 competency-based levels, where Level 1 represents entry-level work and Level 10 corresponds to doctorate-level specialization.
• WorldSkills Competition, organized biennially by WorldSkills International, serves as the global benchmark for vocational skills excellence.
• The Ajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY), a sub-scheme of DAY-NRLM, provides interest-free loans to SHG members to operate rural passenger transport vehicles.
• The National Rural Livelihoods Mission was designed based on the recommendations of the Prof. Radhakrishna Committee on Rural Indebtedness and Livelihoods.
• Kaushal Bhawan in New Delhi houses the headquarters of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.