7 lakh students to be trained at a cost of Rs 499 Cr: MSDE

The five- year scheme will provide entrepreneurship education and training to over seven lakh students through 3050 institutes.

Marking the second Foundation Day of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge), yesterday launched the Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana, MSDE’s flagship scheme on entrepreneurship education and training.

The scheme spanning 2016-17 to 2020-21 and a project cost of Rs 499.94 crore, will provide entrepreneurship education and training to over seven lakh students in five years through 3050 institutes. It will also include easy access to information and mentor network, credit, incubator and accelerator and advocacy to create a pathway for the youth.

Congratulating on the launch of the scheme, Rudy said, “Today we are taking important strides to scale up entrepreneurship in the country. I am pleased to announce the launch of Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana, which offers national and international best practices of learning in entrepreneurship education.”

“MSDE’s two institutions dedicated to entrepreneur education and training – NIESBUD and IIE—have trained more than seven lakh trainees including 2,600 persons from over 125 countries in the field of entrepreneurial skills, till date. After becoming a part of this Ministry, these two institutes are now focussing on mentorship of budding entrepreneurs across the country. We have seen success so far and we are determined to create more opportunities of employment for our youth through this initiative,” he added.

The institutes under the PM’s Yuva Yojana include 2200 Institutes of higher learning (colleges, universities, and premier institutes), 300 schools, 500 ITIs and 50 entrepreneurship development centres, through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

This announcement was made at a day-long national conference of state ministers on ‘Skilling with quality’ with more than 80 per cent of the states making their representations. The conference emphasised the need to strengthen institutional mechanisms for skill development at the state level and bring in a more robust framework ensuring quality output, outcome and impact on the youth of India.

MSDE communicated that it has plans to disburse around INR 7000 crore to the states to help align them with the centre’s skill development agenda and work in conjunction with them to ensure a robust ecosystem.

Addressing the state ministers, Rohit Nandan, secretary MSDE said, “Skills have to maintain a certain baseline standard and we should not get caught in numbers. Skills cannot be compromised at any cost and the states should partner with the Centre to verify and grade ITIs and training partners so that quality and standards can be maintained. The Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) will work closely with the local authorities and industries towards job aggregation. Those who perform well will be incentivised while those who do not perform will have to exit. ”

Emphasising on the importance of being self-sustainable, MSDE announced the institutionalisation of the National Entrepreneurship awards for first-generation achievers below 30 years, for the very first time. The Entrepreneurship Awards are proposed to be given on 16 January, 2017. Young entrepreneurs will be recognised and awarded in various sectors for their contribution to the economy of our country. Equal emphasis has been given to recognising the meaningful contribution of ecosystem builders in this award process to identify young people from socially disadvantaged groups.

“We believe that this initiative will motivate first-generation entrepreneurs to improve and excel in their entrepreneurial pursuits, and inspire those who are a part of the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem to excel even further,” said Nandan.

States such as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh participating in the conference lauded the Centre’s endeavour to bring about convergence across regions and also shared their best practices on quality assurance for others to follow. According to the states, the quality has to be engrained into the system right at the planning level. Also, it has to be ensured that the skilled workforce is used for infrastructure and other developments within the region.