(a) whether the Government has taken any initiatives to improve better synergy between policies, design processes, skills and technology which can produce more fruitful result in Skill India and Make in India schemes;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government in this regard; and
(c) if not, the reasons therefor?
(a) to (c) Under Skill India Mission, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), has collaborated with Central Government Ministries, State Governments, Industry, Non-Profits Organizations and Academia to synergize and accelerate the skilling efforts across geographies. It is aided in these initiatives by its functional arms/institutions like National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Directorate General of Training (DGT), Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD), Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) etc. Skill India Initiatives of the Ministry has given boost to ‘Make In India’ Programme through preparing highly skilled workforce aligning to the requirement of industry. Various interventions and implementation of the schemes have resulted in the increase in the number of trained candidates. To capture the data for skilling related activities in the country, a robust IT system namely “Skill India Portal” has been developed.
MSDE through NSDC is implementing a flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) on Pan India basis with the aim to enable and mobilize a large number of youth to take up industry designed quality skill training, increase productivity of the existing workforce, and align skill training with the actual needs of the country. Owing to the success of PMKVY 1.0, the scheme was re launched with an aim to train 10 million youth Pan India by year 2020 and is called PMKVY 2016-20. PMKVY 2016-20 does not mandate the establishment of skill development centres. However, it enables large number of prospective youth for taking up Short Term Training (STT) and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) through accredited and affiliated training centers (TCs) throughout the country. Under PMKVY 2016-20, the empanelled training centres are monitored through various methodologies including IT interventions and measures namely; self-audit reporting, call validations, surprise visits and monitoring through the Skills Development Management System (SDMS), Smart Management and Accreditation of Training Centre (SMART), Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance Solution (AEBAS), social media platform, etc. Under Centrally Sponsored Centrally Managed (CSCM) component of PMKVY 2016-20, 49.10 Lakh candidates have been trained so far.
Long Term Training is provided though Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).The ITIs increased from 11964 in 2014 to 14495 in 2019 and trainees enrolment increased from 16.9 lakh in 2014-15 to 23.08 lakh in 2018-19. Further, following initiatives have been made to achieve the objective of Skill India Mission:
? Creation of 22 Regional Director of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (RDSDEs) and 14 no. of NSTIs extension centres by way of restructuring of existing RDATs & NSTIs so as to monitor the activities of all types of Skill Training across all the 36 States.
? Introduction of new trades in the year 2018 to keep pace with Technological innovations viz: Internet of Things , Additive Manufacturing Technician (3D Printing) and Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA)/Drone Pilot etc.
? All the courses under Craftsmen Training Scheme have been made NSQF complaint.
? Implementation of Online exams.
? Issuance of e-Certificate through NCVT MIS portal for trainees under different schemes
? Relaxation of Affiliation Norms for establishing ITI’s in Unserved Blocks
? Development of question bank for all schemes under DGT i.e. CTS, ATS and CITS to facilitate use of MCQ type question for Computer Based Test (CBT) in AITT.
? Launching of Bharat Skills- Learning Management System (LMS) – a central repository for skills which provides NSQF Curriculum, course material, videos, Question Banks, Mock Tests, etc. for students and Instructors.
Government has launched ‘Make in India’ initiative with the objective of facilitating investment, fostering innovation, building best in class manufacturing infrastructure, making it easy to do business and enhancing skill development. Some of the steps taken to make skill training under ‘Skill India’, more relevant to the changing market and ‘Make in India’ needs inter alia, include, establishment of Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) as industry led bodies to develop National Occupational Standards (NOS), focus on apprenticeship training and notification of National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) as a competency based framework to be adopted by all skill development programmes.