PMKVY Scheme: 40% of 1.5 crore in skill training women; electronics, apparel top sectors

NEW DELHI: The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), a flagship skill development initiative, has trained over 1.5 crore candidates since 2015, with women comprising a significant 40% of the participants, according to government data shared by the minister for skill development and entrepreneurship, Jayant Chaudhary, in the Lok Sabha during Winter Session.

While women’s participation stands out, data from 2015 to October 31, 2024, reveal that other marginalised groups show limited representation. Schedule Caste (SC) beneficiaries constitute 11% of the trainees, Schedule Tribe (ST) mere 4%, and persons with disabilities (PwD) just 0.32% of those trained.

The data reveals that apparel and electronics sectors emerged as top placement providers. Approximately 4,20,848 students were placed in the apparel sector, with 4,07,892 finding opportunities in electronics and hardware.

PMKVY Scheme: Category-wise statistics

The PMKVY scheme was launched in 2015 with an aim to impart skill development training through Short-Term Training (STT) and up-skilling and re-skilling through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) to youth across the country. The current version of the scheme – PMKVY 4.0 – started from 2022 and is slated to continue till 2026.

As per the data, pan India 1,57,55,371 candidates have been trained under the scheme. The category-wise trained candidates include:

• Scheduled Castes (SCs): 18,02,380
• Scheduled Tribes (STs): 6,93,547
• Other Backward Castes (OBC): 45,22,893
• Women: 62,33,468
• Minority: 16,60,073
• Persons with Disability (PwD): 51,364

OBC candidates constituted 29% of those totally trained and minority candidates included 10.53%.

Minister Jayant Chaudhary has stated that under the focus of PMKVY 4.0 is to improve inclusivity by ensuring that SC, ST, women and other marginalised communities are able to undertake skill training and eventually access gainful wage and self-employment.

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PMKVY Scheme: Placements

Placements were tracked in the STT component in the first three versions of the scheme implemented from financial year 2015-16 to 2021-22. The current version has delinked placements.

“Under PMKVY4.0, the focus was to empower our trained candidates to choose their varied career path and they are suitably oriented for the same. Further, various IT tools like Skill India digital hub (SIDH) also give this opportunity,” the minister said while replying to questions in the House on delinking of placements.

According to data shared earlier in July by the skill development ministry, of the 56.88 lakh candidates certified in STT, 24.3 lakh have been reported placed which makes the overall placement rate at 42.8%, with top sectors including apparel, electronics, retail, and logistics.

As per the ministry data, in Maharashtra, under PMKVY 2.0, 37.28% candidates were placed and under PMKVY 3.0, just 4.7% were placed.

Specialised sectors like information technology, hydrocarbon, and aerospace saw minimal placements. There were no placements reported in the IT sector and IASC (instrumentation automation surveillance and communication).

In the Hydrocarbon sector, a negligible 328 candidates were placed. Similarly in sports, aerospace and aviation, 1,523 and 1,514 candidates were placed respectively.

The table below shows the top 10 sectors and the number of beneficiaries placed in each.

PMKVY Placements: Top skills to learn

PMKVY 4.0: Skill courses with maximum enrollment

The electronics and hardware sector has emerged as the frontrunner in India's skill development mission, training over 15 lakh students under PMKVY. Apparel courses follow closely, having trained more than 13 lakh candidates nationwide.

In the ongoing version of the scheme, the IT-ITes sector has made significant strides, training 2,04,703 candidates. Comparatively, during the 2.0 version, the same sector had trained a total of 3,45,303 participants.

On the other hand, sectors like paints and coating and domestic workers training recorded zero enrollments. However, until the third version of the PMKVY scheme, 10,273 trained candidates had been placed in the domestic worker category.

The training volumes across different scheme versions reveal an evolving landscape. The second version, implemented between 2016-2020, saw the highest enrollment with 1,10,00,708 trained candidates. The third version, running from 2020-2022, witnessed a substantial reduction to 7,37,502. The current version has so far trained 20,31,145 participants.

Uttar Pradesh continues to lead the national skill training chart under all the versions of the scheme, primarily due to its massive population and economic diversity. In the 2.0 version, the state trained over 15 lakh candidates, which reduced to 82,000 in the third version. Currently, in the ongoing scheme, Uttar Pradesh has trained 3,88,996 candidates.

Maharashtra followed closely behind with a total 11,95,605 trained candidates so far.

The most striking narrative emerges from Delhi, where skill training enrollment has experienced a dramatic decline. During the PMKVY 2.0, the capital trained 3,77,441 candidates. This number plummeted to 19,362 in the third version and further dropped to 17,710 in the current phase.