Dilip Chenoy quits NSDC

Failure to deliver on targets, poor performance of PMKVY in Bihar cited as reasons

The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) board, which met on Tuesday, accepted the resignation of its managing director and chief executive officer Dilip Chenoy and chief operating officer Atul Bhatnagar. The resignations were tendered last week. Despite repeated attempts, Chenoy remained unavailable for comment. Sources say it was the poor rollout of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) in Bihar that triggered his departure.

The ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship, headed by Rajiv Pratap Rudy, "was concerned about the poor performance of PMKVY in Bihar", sources said. The state was chosen in July for rolling out the scheme, before the election commission had announced dates for elections in the state. PMKVY aims to offer skill training to 2.4 million youngsters. Trainees will be offered a financial reward and certification upon successful completion of the training programme. The steering committee of the PMKVY had set up a subcommittee whose convenor was the CEO and managing director of NSDC. A sources said, "In every meeting of the subcommittee, it was made clear the ministry wanted the rollout in Bihar to be a success. Bihar is an important state. From August, it was emphasised to all members of the NSDC's skill councils that they had to create enough training capacity in Bihar."

Rudy was away in Bihar for poll campaigning and was unavailable for comment. Sources close to the minister rejected insinuations that there was any excessive focus on Bihar. They said the ministry had initiated programmes across the country and had data, which it would make available in due course. They added some interests had brought up Bihar as a red-herring to take away attention from their failure to deliver. They said the ministry had resisted efforts to turn NSDC into an extension of industry chambers, since Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tasked the ministry with a more comprehensive mandate. "The officer concerned has a history of failing to deliver. If he has decided to resign when this was brought up, so be it," said a source.

The poor performance of the scheme was the tipping point in an already soured relationship. Tensions between the ministry and Chenoy were simmering prior to that. According to sources, "Questions were raised about the manner in which funds made available to the NSDC were disbursed to skill councils and training institutes". Each skill council was given a grant of Rs 5 crore. However, according to sources, there were no checks on where and how the money was spent. The ministry is reported to have started asking questions on the funding issue, how many members of the skill councils were actually hiring trained workers and were they paying more for skilled workers.

Chenoy said: "My journey with NSDC has been deeply satisfying and a learning experience. I can say with humility that with the support of our partners and the MSDE (ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship) we have set the foundation for a strong skills ecosystem in the country. It has been an interesting journey and there have been learnings along the way. Meeting the NSDC target of skilling 3.3 million Indians (March 2015) has been a definite high, while there have been learnings around creating sustainable partnerships with training partners and industry. I would like to thank my colleagues at NSDC for supporting the organisation's goals and helping us to get where we are today."

Rohit Nandan, secretary, MSDE, is expected to meet all the skill councils over the next two days to take stock of the situation. Industry representation on these councils and the issues of funding are likely to be discussed.