New Delhi (India): Despite repeated assertions by the government about the success of the Skill India initiative, recent data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2017-18 reveals that only a small fraction of Indian youth have received formal vocational or technical training, and a significant proportion remain unemployed or out of the labour force.
Skill India: Aspirations vs reality
In her maiden budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted that the government is enabling millions of youth to acquire industry-relevant skills to boost employability. However, the PLFS data paints a starkly different picture. Nationally, just 1.8% of the population reported receiving formal vocational training in 2017-18, while 5.6% reported informal training such as on-the-job learning, hereditary skills, or self-taught methods. This leaves 93% of Indians without any formal or informal vocational skills.
Among the youth (15–29 years), who made up more than half of those formally trained, about 42% were not part of the labour force. In contrast, 62.3% of youth without training were out of the labour force. Even those with training faced high unemployment, with roughly 33% of formally trained youth unable to secure work. Unemployment was slightly higher among women and alarmingly high (40%) among freshly trained youth who had completed their training within the preceding year.
Disparities in training and gender gaps
PLFS data also highlights the stark gender divide in training fields. Men were predominantly trained in agriculture, food processing, telecom, media, electronics, IT/ITeS, mechanical engineering, and apparel. Women were concentrated in beauty and wellness, apparel, handicrafts, hospitality, and healthcare.
While formal training was intended to be free under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), only 16% of trainees received government-funded training. Most youth bore the cost themselves, with 73% undergoing full-time training, over half training for more than a year, and around 30% for over two years.
Structural and implementation challenges
The Skill India initiative, launched in 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aimed to train 10 million youth under PMKVY to enhance employability. However, a 2017 report by a government-appointed committee led by Sharda Prasad warned that the programme’s targets were overly ambitious and lacked proper monitoring mechanisms.
PLFS data corroborates these concerns, indicating that most youth remain outside the ambit of formal training, and even those trained often struggle to find jobs. Declining budget allocations for PMKVY suggest that the government itself acknowledges the scheme’s limitations, yet Sitharaman’s recent budget speech offered no alternative plan to tackle unemployment in the country.
The path forward
If Skill India is to move beyond a buzzword, the programme requires a comprehensive overhaul. This includes expanding access to formal training, ensuring gender-inclusive and industry-relevant courses, providing adequate funding, and closely monitoring outcomes to translate skills into actual employment.
Without decisive reforms, millions of Indian youth will continue to invest in training programs at their own cost, only to remain unemployed, leaving the promise of Skill India largely unfulfilled.