International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)

ISSN: 2319-7064
SJIF (2022): 7.942

A Research Paper on “Skill India Program” - Its

Abstract: This paper discusses the importance of skill development in India in the context of globalization, knowledge, and
competition. The study found that the skill capacity of the Indian workforce is low, with only 10% being vocationally trained. The paper
also highlights the challenges faced by the Indian government and its partner agencies in implementing effective skill development
programs, such as inadequate literacy rates and insufficient vocational training. The paper suggests that policy makers need to address
these issues to ensure the success of skill development initiatives.

Keywords: Skill development, vocational education, apprenticeships, National Skill Development Policy, Apprenticeship, skill gap, new-
age skills

1. Introduction of the Skill India program, its application, and the challenges
it faces.
Skill development refers to the process of acquiring
knowledge, skills, and competencies that are essential for a The Skill India program is based on the National Skill
particular profession or job. It includes formal education, Development Policy, which aims to create a skilled
vocational training, on-the-job training, and continuous workforce and meet the demand for skilled workers in
learning to enhance existing skills and develop new ones. various industries. The program focuses on providing
The objective of skill development is to improve the training and certification to individuals in various skills,
employability of individuals and their productivity in the including traditional skills, new-age skills, and
workplace. It also aims to meet the demands of the industry entrepreneurial skills. The program is divided into various
and the economy by providing skilled workers. In recent components, including Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas
years, skill development has become a crucial aspect of Yojana (PMKVY), National Apprenticeship Promotion
economic growth and social development, particularly in Scheme (NAPS), and Skill Loan Scheme.
developing countries like India. The government has
launched various skill development initiatives to provide 2. Literature Review
training and certification to individuals in various skills and
industries, making them employable and contributing to the Dr. Yathish Kumar & Ramya K R (2017), conducted a study
country's economic growth. entitled “A research paper on- Economic prosperity through
Skill India: A study of key success factors and challenges”.
Skill development refers to the process of acquiring and The objectives of the study were to know the awareness of
improving the skills, knowledge, and competencies required skill development concept, the problems faced in self-
for a particular job or occupation. It is essential for the employment and provide some suggestions based on the
economic growth and development of a country, as it leads observations and findings. The study brought out how
to the creation of a skilled workforce that can meet the Government is caring to abolish unemployment problem.
demands of the market. Skill development involves various Majority of the respondents were aware of the Skill India
forms of training, such as vocational education, Campaign due to various publicity schemes of Government
apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and classroom which is highly commendable. Out of the respondents
instruction. It is crucial for both individuals and businesses, selected for survey majority have undergone the skill
as it enables individuals to improve their employability and development training under different areas and have
businesses to increase their productivity and benefited them in their overall development. This shows the
competitiveness. Skill development is particularly important popularity of the schemes and good response from the youth.
in developing countries, where there is a need to enhance the The survey reveals that even after the training the
skills of the workforce to accelerate economic growth and respondents had faced some major problems while setting up
reduce poverty. their own business, which need to be tackled. Almost all the
respondents were motivated through Skill India Campaign
The Skill India program was launched by the Indian and have encouraged others for self-employment
government in 2015 with the aim of skilling the Indian
workforce and making them employable. The program has Dr. S. C. Patil & Prof. Amaresh B Charantimath (2021)
been successful in creating awareness about the need for conducted a study on “Employability through Skill
skill development and has trained a large number of people Development Programmes - an overview of significance of
in various skills. However, the program has also faced Employability skills”. The objective of the study was to
several challenges in its implementation, including lack of comprehend the need of employability skills and to study the
infrastructure, inadequate funding, and insufficient industry skill gap - desired vs possessed. The study concluded that
participation. This paper reviews the conceptual framework the skill gaps can be bridged with training, education and
Volume 12 Issue 11, November 2023
www.ijsr.net
Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY
Paper ID: SR231128085819 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR231128085819 2110
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN: 2319-7064
SJIF (2022): 7.942
short-term courses. In spite of the efforts there is still a great businesses. The program has been successful in providing
scope in transformation of abandoned knowledge into skills. training to a large number of people and creating awareness
Various ambitious missions of Government of India i.e. about the importance of skill development.
Make in India, Atmanirbhar Bharat, 5 trillion economy
dreams etc can come true with collective efforts. Current Application of the Program:
 Low levels of education and skill development in India.
Dilip Chenoy (2019) conducted a study on "Skill  The drop-out rates in educational institutions are high,
development for accelerating the manufacturing sector: the with 50% estimated in the age group of 5-14 years and
role of „new-age‟ skills for „Make in India'". The aim of the 86% after 15 years of age.
study was to focus on developing right skills to address the  The workforce is semi-literate and finds it difficult to
growing skill gap in various manufacturing sectors in the absorb higher forms of skills.
context of changing industrial landscape defined by new-age  The study also found that 38% of the Indian workforce is
technologies. The study concluded that that India‟s illiterate, 25% has education below primary or up to
demographic advantages can be realized only if the existing primary level, and only 36% has an education level of
workforce is re-skilled and upskilled through lifelong middle and higher level.
learning initiatives, and new recruits are prepared with  Additionally, 80% of the Indian workforce does not
twenty-first century skill sets. It is a mammoth task for the possess any marketable skills, and only 2% have received
government alone to develop a skill-based workforce and formal vocational training, with 8% receiving non-formal
drive the 'Make in India' initiative. Therefore, it is vocational training.
imperative that government and industry partner and take
collective actions to develop the skilled workforce. This indicates that very few new entrants to the workforce
have any marketable skills compared to other developed
Mr. Hansel Furtado (2018) conducted a study on "A study economies such as Korea, Germany, Japan, and the United
on impact of skill development at entry level job candidates Kingdom.
in India". The objective of the study was to understand the
gap between the job applicant‟s performance level & job The Indian government and its partner agencies have taken
expectation at multiple stage of one's life and to understand measures to implement skill development programs in the
employability of candidates at entry level of job. The study economy. However, the study identifies several unresolved
concluded that the most essential aspect for every citizen of issues and challenges that require immediate attention from
the nation is with booming technologies, organizations policy makers. The next section of the paper discusses some
upscaling & a transitioning era as of such today. The of these bottlenecks and provides possible solutions to
conversion rate in with long-lasting sustainable effect on the address them.
market in a structured analytical way and it is important to
consider before providing any initiative relating to
developing human potential especially for candidates at
5. Challenges
entry level jobs because it is directly dealing with building
Despite its success, the Skill India program faces several
the future of the next generation to lead.
challenges in its implementation. The program has been
criticized for its inadequate funding, lack of infrastructure,
Objective of the Study:
and insufficient industry participation. The program has also
1) To study the present skill capacity and scenario of India.
faced challenges in providing training that is relevant to the
2) To analyze application of Skill India Program of Indian
market and meets the demands of the industry. The program
Government.
has also been criticized for its lack of focus on providing
3) To study the challenges faced by skill development
training to women and marginalized communities.
Program in India.
This paper acknowledges that despite concentrated efforts,
the skill development mission in India still has a long way to
3. Data and Methodology go. The study identifies several serious key challenges that
are hindering the mission.
This research is mainly descriptive and a conceptual in 1) A key challenge in the skill development mission in
nature. It is based on secondary data collection methods by India: the mismatch between the demand for skilled
using various tools such as relevant books, websites of workers from industries and the supply of labor
government officials, documents of various NGOs for force. This mismatch is exacerbating all types of skill
carrying Skill India Program, Articles and Research Papers development initiatives by the government and its
by various authors. partner agencies. The study notes that the number of
people formally trained in a year is only 1,100,000 by
4. Application the Ministry of Labour and Employment, with
approximately 3,200,000 trained by 17 other central
The Skill India program has been implemented across the government ministries. Additionally, compared to
country, with a focus on providing training to youth in employers in other countries such as Germany, the
various skills. The program has collaborated with various USA, France, and Japan, Indian employers (67%) find it
industries to provide training that is industry-relevant and more difficult to fill job vacancies due to a lack of
meets the demands of the market. The program has also skilled workers.
provided support to startups and entrepreneurs by providing 2) Problem of location and Geography is One
them with the necessary skills and funding to start their own challenge, that states with slower economic growth
Volume 12 Issue 11, November 2023
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Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY
Paper ID: SR231128085819 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR231128085819 2111
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN: 2319-7064
SJIF (2022): 7.942
rates have higher population growth rates and fewer 3) Promotion of Vocational Education: Promotion of
new jobs, while states with higher economic growth vocational education at the school level can help in
rates have more new jobs with a lower rate of labor- developing job-specific skills from an early age. This
force. As a result, laggard states need to rely on migrant can also help in reducing the mismatch between the
workers to cope with this challenge. Another challenge demand for skilled labor and the supply of labor force.
is that formal institutions for vocational training are 4) Public-Private Partnership: Public-private partnerships
mostly located in urban areas, leaving large proportions can be established to provide funding for training
of rural populations without access to formal vocational programs and to create an ecosystem where industries,
training. Additionally, the districts notified as backward government agencies, and training providers can work
face a serious shortage of formal skill training, with together to address the skill gap issue.
many skill development institutions focusing only on 5) Encourage Self-Employment: Encouraging self-
basic livelihood skills provided by NGOs or other employment can help in reducing the pressure on the
agencies as part of social development programs. These job market and can also help in creating new job
skills are often not formally assessed and are not opportunities. This can be done through skill
recognized for employment by industrial sectors. development programs that focus on entrepreneurship.
3) The challenges related to education and curriculum in 6) Skill Certification: Certification of skills can help in
skill development are summarized as follows: improving the employability of individuals. It can also
 High drop-out rates, especially among female help in creating a standardized system of skill
students, after the age of 15 years and above. recognition that is recognized by industries and
 Inaccessibility for disadvantaged and rural sections government agencies.
of society due to high costs and social impediments
like transportation problems. 7. Conclusion
 Poor quality of education leading to lack of literacy
and numeracy skills, making it difficult for students The Skill India program is an important initiative by the
to absorb even basic skills. Indian government to provide training and certification to
 Obsolete skills taught in the curriculum resulting in individuals in various skills. The program has been
workers being unable to find jobs according to their successful in creating awareness about the importance of
aspirations. skill development and has trained a large number of people.
 Multiplicity of curriculums for the same skill However, the program faces several challenges in its
resulting in uneven competency levels. implementation, including lack of infrastructure, inadequate
 Lack of platforms for industrial and governmental funding, and insufficient industry participation. The program
agencies to meet regularly for systematic up- needs to address these challenges to ensure that it continues
gradation of curriculum for new skills, resulting in to provide effective training and certification to individuals
a lack of co-ordination between job aspirants and in various skills.
employers.
 Inflexibility in the curriculum framework of References
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Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY
Paper ID: SR231128085819 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR231128085819 2112
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN: 2319-7064
SJIF (2022): 7.942
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Volume 12 Issue 11, November 2023