Congress terms 'Skill India' a scam, demands probe

The Congress on Friday demanded a probe into the Narendra Modi-led government's much vaunted "Skill India", claiming that the scheme was a massive scam benefiting people within the "BJP eco-system".

Citing media reports and RTI replies, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi alleged that the scheme launched in 2015 to "train 40 crore people" was actually a "shortcut to profitable business for the unscrupulous".

"Skill India Mission has turned out to be a massive scam with people within the BJP eco-system, its cronies, middlemen, touts and mafia pocketing the money for the same and listing ghost beneficiaries.

"The mission of skilling has evolved into a mechanism of fast billing for BJP's friends. In the name of making youth employable, Modi government's Skill Development Ministry seems to have created a shortcut to profitable business for the unscrupulous," said Singhvi.

The Congress also targeted Textile Minister Smriti Irani over the alleged scam.

"Irani, who leaves no opportunity to exert her larynx on variety of inane issues, is absolutely mum on the rampant corruption under her watch, why?" asked Singhvi.

He also cited the government-appointed Sharda Prasad Committee that had "criticised the Modi government for setting an unachievable target of skilling 40 crore youth".

"The committee had further found that the Modi government had been missing its targets over the previous two years as far as skilling the workforce was concerned," said Singhvi, demanding a probe into the scam and recovery of "crores of people's money lost due to these irregularities".

--IANS

and/qd/sed