Central Government to launch National Skills Mission

The Central Government has decided to launch a National Skills Mission through the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry.

The Finance Minister in his Budget Speech 2015-16 today, said that the Mission will consolidate skill initiatives spread across several Ministries. It will allow the Government to standardize procedures and outcomes across 31 Sector Skill Councils, he added.

Arun Jaitley said “India is one of the youngest nations in the world with more than 54% of the total population below 25 years of age. Yet today less than 5% of our potential workforce gets formal skill training to be employable and stay employable”.

The Finance Minister said that the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana was launched to enhance the employability of Rural Youth which is the key to unlocking India’s demographic dividend. A sum of Rs. 1500 crore has been allocated for this scheme, he said, for which disbursement will be through a digital voucher directly into qualified student’s bank account. A 100th Birth Anniversary Celebration Committee will be announced soon and adequate resources will be provided for the celebration of 100th Birth Anniversary of the Great Nationalist Shri Deen Dayal Ji Upadhyay, he added.