MEMBERS REFERENCE SERVICE

LARRDIS
LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NEW
DELHI

REFERENCE NOTE

For the use of Members of Parliament NOT FOR PUBLICATION

No. 01/RN/Ref./January/2020

SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA

Prepared by Shri Sanjiv Kumar, Deputy Director (23034391) and Smt. Kusum Rawat, Additional Director
(23035036) of Lok Sabha Secretariat under the supervision of Shri Naushad Alam, Director (23034749) and
Shri R.C. Tiwari, Joint Secretary (23034430). reference

The Reference Note is for personal use of the Members in the discharge of their Parliamentary duties, and is
not for publication. This Service is not to be quoted as the source of information as it is based on the sources
indicated at the end/in the context.
 SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA
Introduction
Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social
development for any country. Countries with higher levels and better standards of skills
adjust more effectively to the challenges and opportunities in domestic and international job
markets. As per the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), 2011-12 (68th round) Report
on Status of Education and Vocational Training in India, among persons of age 15-59 years,
about 2.2% are reported to have received formal vocational training and 8.6% are reported
to have received non-formal vocational training. While the debate on the exact quantum of
the challenge continues, there is no disputing the fact that it is indeed a challenge of
formidable proportions.
The objective of Skill Development is to create a workforce empowered with the
necessary and continuously upgraded skills, knowledge and internationally recognized
qualifications to gain access to decent employment and ensure India's competitiveness in
the dynamic global market. It aims at increasing the productivity and employability of
workforce (wage and self-employed) both in the organized and the unorganized sectors. It
seeks increased participation of youth, women, disabled and other disadvantaged sections of
the society and to synergize efforts of the various sectors and to reform the present system
with the enhanced capability to adapt to the changing technologies and the labour market
demands.

Challenges in the skilling and entrepreneurship landscape in the country

i. Public perception that views skilling as the last option meant for those who have not
been able to progress/opted out of the formal academic system.
ii. Skill development programmes of the Central Government are spread across more
than 20 Ministries/Departments without any robust coordination and monitoring
mechanism to ensure convergence.
 -2-

iii. Multiplicity in assessment and certification systems that leads to inconsistent

outcomes and causes confusion among employers.
iv. Paucity of trainers, inability to attract practitioners from industry as faculty.
v. Mismatch between demand and supply at the sectoral and spatial levels.
vi. Limited mobility between skill and higher education programs and vocational
education.
vii. Very low coverage of apprenticeship programs.
viii. Narrow and often obsolete skill curricula.
ix. Declining labour force participation rate of women.
x. Predominant non-farm, unorganised sector employment with low productivity but no
premium for skilling.
xi. Non-inclusion of entrepreneurship in formal education system.
xii. Lack of mentorship and adequate access to finance for startups.
xiii. Inadequate impetus to innovation driven entrepreneurship.

Incremental Human Resource Requirements Across 24 Sectors (2017-22)

The Human Resource Requirement Reports were commissioned by the National Skill
Development Corporation (NSDC) under the Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship. The objective of these Reports was to understand the sectoral and
geographical spread of incremental skill requirements across the 24 high priority sectors
between 2013-17 and 2017-22.
The research provides a detailed overview of the Sectors from a skills perspective,
assesses the demand for skills, highlights key job roles, maps the available supply side
infrastructure and suggests actionable recommendations for the stakeholders in the system.
The studies were conducted through extensive primary interaction with key stakeholders
including industry, training providers, trainees, sector skill councils and government. These
included more than 1,000 industry experts, 500 job roles and 1,500+ trainees.
 -3-
Breakup of Incremental Human Resource Requirement across 24 Sectors

The Environment Scan Report of 2016 updated the findings of the earlier reports by
factoring in the likely impact of major flagship initiatives of the Government on human
resource requirement. The study estimated incremental human resource requirement of 103
million during 2017-2022 across these 24 sectors.
 -4-
Skill Action Plan

Based on the finding of the above Studies, protracted discussions were held across 34
sectors with the Ministries/Departments concerned from October, 2015 to September, 2016
under the Secretary, MSDE to identify the sectoral training needs up to 2022 and develop a
Skill Action Plan. The estimated training need in 34 sectors is as following.
Incremental Training Need across 34 Sectors (2017-22)
 -5-
Human Resources Requirement at State Level

Various studies were conducted to assess the incremental human resource

requirement across States. The outcome is as under:
Incremental Human Resource Requirement across States (2013-22)
 -6-
National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015

The vision statement of the policy is “To create an ecosystem of empowerment by

skilling on a large scale at speed with high standards and to promote a culture of
innovation based entrepreneurship which can generate wealth and employment so as to
ensure Sustainable Livelihoods for all citizens in the Country.”

The first National Policy on Skill Development (NPSD) was notified in 2009. The
NPSD 2009 laid out the broad framework as well as objectives and outcomes for the
skilling landscape in the country. Given the paradigm shift in the skilling ecosystem in the
country and the experience gained through implementation of various skill development
programmes in the country, there was an imminent need to revisit the earlier policy.
Moreover, the 2009 policy itself provided for review every five years to align the policy
framework with the emerging trends in the national and international milieu. Accordingly
the new National Policy on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship was notified on 15th
July, 2015 and this replaces the policy of 2009.

Skill Component of the Policy

The skill component of the policy addresses key issues in the skill landscape: low
aspirational value, non-integration with formal education, lack of focus on outcomes,
quality of training infrastructure and trainers, among others. The policy aims to align supply
with demand, bridge existing skill gaps, promote industry engagement, operationalise a
quality assurance framework, leverage technology and promote apprenticeship to tackle the
identified issues. It also aims to promote equitable skilling opportunities for
socially/geographically marginalised and disadvantaged groups as well as women.
 -7-
National Skill Development Mission

The National Skill Development Mission was launched by the Hon‟ble Prime
Minister on 15th July, 2015 on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day. It aims to create
convergence and expedite cross-sectoral decisions through a high powered decision making
framework. It is expected to converge, coordinate, implement and monitor skilling activities
on a pan-India basis. The Mission consists of a three tier institutional structure, where the
functions of the bodies consist of providing policy directives and guidance, reviewing and
monitoring overall progress, and actual implementation in line with Mission objectives. The
Institutional Framework of the NSDM is given in the chart below.

The first meeting of the Governing Council under the Chairmanship of Hon‟ble
Prime Minister of India was held on 2nd June, 2016. The first meeting of the Steering
Committee under the Chairmanship of Hon‟ble MoS(I/C), SDE was held on 24th March,
2017. So far, three meetings of Executive Committee of NSDM have been held on 16th
February, 2017, 12th August, 2016 and 10th October, 2017 respectively, to take forward the
decisions of the Governing Council.
 -8-
Monitoring of Skilling Targets

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship coordinates with other

Central Ministries/Departments for setting skilling targets for the year and monitors the
achievement against their target. As reported by various Central Ministries/Departments,
the number of people trained during the last three years is at Annexure - 2.

Common Norms for Skill Development Schemes

The Government of India had constituted a „Committee on

Dovetailing/Rationalisation of Central Government Schemes on Skill Development‟ under
the chairmanship of the Chairman, National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) vide
Notification dated 2nd December, 2013 for providing norms for skill development schemes
implemented by the Government of India. After several rounds of deliberations, the
Committee came up with its recommendations on norms across the various skill
development programmes while allowing flexibility to meet the requirements of different
parts of the country/different socio economic groups. The report of the Committee was put
on the website for public awareness and comments. On the basis of the Report of the
Committee and the inputs/feedback received from stakeholders, The Ministry of Skill
Development & Entrepreneurship has framed the Common Norms for Skill Development
Schemes implemented by the Government of India. The Common Norms have been
notified by Government of India and all Skill Development Schemes implemented across
the Ministries need to be aligned to Common Norms.
 -9-
National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET)

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is envisaging the creation

of an overarching regulatory framework in the skills space: the National Council for
Vocational Education and Training (NCVET). This is proposed to be established through a
Government Resolution, by merging the existing National Council for Vocational Training
(NCVT) and the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA). The proposed NCVET will
regulate the functioning of entities engaged in vocational education and training, both long
term and short-term, and establish minimum standards for the functioning of such entities.

References:
i. Ministry of Skill Development, Annual Report 2017-18, pg. 5-9, 11-13, 115 & 117.
URL:
https://www.msde.gov.in/assets/images/annual%20report/Annual%20Report%2020
17-2018%20(English).pdf
ii. http://164.100.47.193/Refinput/New_Reference_Notes/English/skill.pdf
iii. Rajya Sabha Unstarred Q.No. 3039 dated 13.12.2019
URL: https://pqars.nic.in/annex/250/Au3039.pdf
 Annexure-1
Details of Schemes for Skill Development of various Ministries/Departments
 Annexure-2
Skilling Achievement from 2014-15 to 2016-17
 Annexure 3
The Sector-wise candidates enrolled, trained, assessed, certified and reported placed
under Skill Development Programmes 2016-20, as on 11.11.2019.