Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 Launching Soon: Was the Third Leg of the Scheme a Success?

The fourth edition of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is expected to be launched by the Skills Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry (MSDE) shortly. Last year, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY 3.0) was unveiled on Jan 15, 2021.

PMKVY 4.0 places a greater emphasis on on-the-job training as well as digital training as an element of skill development. The Covid-19 pandemic stalled the rollout of PMKVY 4.0 by more than six months as the work on PMKVY 3.0 was delayed, resulting in the program's targets spilling over into 2022.

This year's yojana is expected to bring a specialized training project to train individuals who lost their jobs to the pandemic and women in non-traditional professions. Particular focus would also be given to the tribals living in remote areas of our country to add special skilling projects to increase the number of entrepreneurship opportunities in their community.

With the multiple industries going through drastic changes caused by the pandemic, this scheme is expected to be an improved version of the previous editions of the yojana with a focus on particular job roles and workforce categories. With a dominant focus on increasing the female element in the labour force, the government will aim to provide women with training to operate and maintain electric vehicles, solar rooftops, and similar male-dominated professions.

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Since its inception in 2015, the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana has benefited 13.2 million candidates, according to Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Skills Development and Entrepreneurship. Though the government aimed to train 8,00,000 young professionals across the country, it could only certify approximately 399,860 candidates, out of which only 30,599 received placement as of June 2022.

With the placement figures falling well below 10%, the Parliamentary committee on Labour, Textiles, and Employment held the poor utilization of monetary funds and faulty operation accountable for poor placement numbers of this edition of the scheme.