Cabinet approves skill policy and institutional structure

Currently over 70-odd Skill Development Programmes being implemented by govt

After launching Digital India on Wednesday, the government on Thursday said it has similar plans  for Skilling India.

As a precursor to that, the Cabinet on Thursday cleared the first integrated national policy for skill development, entrepreneurship promotion.

It also approved institutional structure under  the National Skill Development Mission and integrated skill development norms among 21 ministries and departments.

Briefing mediapersons about the decision, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that last week the Prime Minister launched programme on smart cities, on Wednesday on Digital India and the government has also similar plans for Skilling India.



The mission will have a three-tiered, high powered decision-making structure.

At its apex, the mission’s governing council, chaired by the Prime Minister, will provide overall guidance and policy direction. Then, the Steering Committee, chaired by minister in-charge of skill development, will review the mission’s activities in line with the direction set by the governing council.

Below that, the mission directorate, with Secretary, skill development as mission director, will ensure implementation, coordination and convergence of skilling activities across central ministries, departments and state governments. It will also run select sub-missions in high-priority areas.

A government statement said that currently over 70-odd Skill Development Programmes (SDPs) are being implemented by the government, each with its own norms for eligibility criteria, duration of training, cost of training, outcomes, monitoring and tracking mechanism.

"This multiplicity of norms and parameters has created a diffusive effect of SDPs, which need to be streamlined in order to achieve the final outcomes envisaged," it added.

For instance, training courses currently offered by ministries range from 80 to 675 hours. The common norms for skill development would make the hours and cost of training uniform. 

According to the new norms, a minimum of 200 hours’ training is required for fresh skilling courses and 80 hours for re-skilling courses, skills secretary Sunil Arora said.



The common norms are based on the recommendations of a committee of secretaries and feedback received on them. The new National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 policy will aim at bringing more private participation and public-private partnerships in skill development initiatives, Arora said.

He said Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Tata group companies are already imparting skills.  India aims to train 420 million more people by 2022, Arora added.

Under the National Skill Development Agency, the policy advising arm of the ministry, the government will set up an institute to conduct research. 



The new ministry will avail the services of premier institutions such as the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) in Bombay and Chennai, Aligarh Muslim University and Banaras Hindu University to help conduct research and promote entrepreneurship.

A government note said the new policy, coming after a gap of six years, will address key obstacles to skilling, including low aspirational value, lack of integration with formal education, lack of focus on outcomes, low quality training infrastructure and trainers. 

“Further, the Policy seeks to align supply and demand for skills by bridging existing skill gaps, promoting industry engagement, operationalizing a quality assurance framework, leverage technology and promoting greater opportunities for apprenticeship training,” it added.