Central skills scheme to be renamed after Deendayal Upadhyaya

The government will rename an existing skill development programme under the Rural Development Ministry as a tribute to Bharatiya Jana Sangha ideologue and BJP icon Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya.

Sources said the government will launch the Deendayal Skill Development Programme -- a new version of the Aajeevika Skills scheme -- on September 25, the 98th birth anniversary of Upadhyaya.

The government is expected to make an announcement in this regard tomorrow.

Aajeevika Skills, which was launched by the previous UPA government, aims to undertake skilling of rural youth who are poor and provide them jobs with regular monthly wages at or above the minimum wage rates.
 

It is one of a cluster of initiatives of the Rural Development Ministry aimed at promoting rural livelihoods.

The programme is a part of the National Rural Livelihood Mission.