Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana

Vision: “Transform rural poor youth into an economically independent and

globally relevant workforce”.

About the scheme and its Aim:

Grameen Kaushalya Yojana or DDU-GKY is a Government of India
youth employment scheme. It was launched on 25 September 2014 by 15
years of experience in implementing skill training programmes and it was
launched by Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Venkaiah Naidu on the
occasion of 98th birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. As a part
of the Skill India campaign, it plays an instrumental role in supporting the
social and economic programs of the government like the Make In India,
Digital India , Smart Cities and Start-Up India , Stand-Up India campaigns .
Over 180 million or 69% of the country’s youth population between the ages
of 18 and 34 years , live in its rural areas . Of these , the bottom of the
pyramid youth from poor families with no or marginal employment number
about 55 million . It aims to target youth , in the age group of 15–35 years .
DDU-GKY is a part of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), tasked
with the dual objectives of adding diversity to the incomes of rural poor
families and cater to the career aspirations of rural youth. A corpus of Rs
1,500 crore is aimed at enhancing the employability of rural youth . Under
this programme , disbursements would be made through a digital voucher
directly into the student’s bank account as part of the government's skill
development initiative.

DDU-GKY has a unique focus on poor rural youth and is a critical component
of the National skill Development policy . It evolved to cater to the
occupational aspirations of the rural poor and to equip them to participate in
the global job market . Designed to benefit the Prime Minister’s Make in
India’s campaign , it aims to position India as the skill capital of the world .

Vision and Mission:

According to Census 2011 , India has 55 million potential workers between the
ages of 15-35 years in rural areas . at the same time , the world is expected to
face a shortage of 57 million workers by 2020. This presents a historic
opportunity for India to transform its demographic surplus into a demographic
dividend . the ministry of rural development implements DDU-GKY to drive this
national agenda for inclusive growth , by catering to the needs of poor rural
youth.
There are several challenges preventing India’s rural poor from competing in
the modern market, such as the lack of formal education and marketable skills.
DDU-GKY thus bridges the gap by funding training projects benchmarked to
global standards , with an emphasis on placement , retention , career
progression and foreign placement .
Features of DDU-GKY :

❖ Enable poor and mariginalized to access benefits – demanding skill

training at no cost to the rural poor.

❖ Inclusive program design – mandatory coverage of socially disadvantaged

groups (Minority 15% , Women 33%) .

❖ Shifting emphasis
from the training to
career progression –
pioneers in providing job
retention , career
progression and foreign
placements.

❖ Greater support for

placed candidates – post
placement supports ,
alumni network and basic
necessities.

❖ Proactive approach to build placement partnerships – guaranteed

placements for at least 75% trained candidates .

❖ Enhancing the capacity of implementation partners – bringing up new

training service providers and developing their skills .

❖ Regional focus – greater emphasis on projects for poor rural youth in

Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East region and other 27 under
developed regions.

❖ Biometric attendance – to de-duplicate beneficiaries and prevent

recycling of candidates.
Implementation models:
DDU-GKY implementation models can be categorized into 2 types they
are Annual Action Plan(AAP) and Yearly Plan States(YP) . Having fulfilled certain
capacity conditions ,AAP states sanction DDU-GKY projects on the basis of
annual approvals and protocols set by MoRD . In the case of YP states , instead
of the state Government , it is MoRD that sanction projects . This is done on
the basis of recommendations and financial commitment of the concerned
state government .
All projects are appraised and monitored by technical support agencies and
some by MoRD ,while AAP states are directly responsible for appointing TSA’s.
MoRD are the one which provides central government component of funding
for AAP and YP states and where PIAs implement skilling courses and
placement programs in accordance with guidelines and protocols .

Trainings which are done :

Over here 75% placement is guaranteed . DDU-GKY mandates trade specific
skills for which the curriculum shall be aligned with National Council for
Vocational Training
(NCVT) or Sector Skill
Council (SSC) standards
which are designed by
the industry to meet the
industry demand .
In addition to the trade
specific skills , trainings
like soft skills , functional
English and computer
training are also
provided.
Training durations range
from 576 hours to 2304 hours (from a minimum of 3 months to 1 year) and
allows for On-the-Job Training (OJT) subject to a ceiling.
Needs and objectives achieved:

The National Policy for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship 2015 has
identified a s kills gap of 109.73 million In 24 key sectors by the year 2022.
This number cannot be achieved without addressing the BoP 55 million from
rural India. Also, a FICCI and Ernst – Young study published in 2013
identified a shortage of over 47 million skilled workers across the globe by
2020. This presents an unprecedented opportunity for India to train its BoP
youth population and place them in jobs across the world and realize its
demographic dividend.
DDU-GKY takes pride in its partners and their ability to add value.
Innovation from partners is encouraged to build scale and capacity its
unique implementation structure involves partners, who are by nature,
committed to changing lives and are experts in their areas, they form a part
of the Skilling Ecosystem Integrated by DDU-GKY . Partners are supported
through investment, capacity building, strategies for retention , linkages to
international placement and technology support for training purposes.
DDU-GKY is present in 29 States and UTs, across 690 districts , impacting
youth from over 7,427 blocks. It currently has over 1426 projects being
implemented by over 649 partners, in more than 552 trades from 52
industry sectors . Over 9.2 Lakh candidates have been trained and over 4.9
Lakh candidates have been placed in jobs as on 30th December, 2019 . From
2012 , DDU-GKY has so far committed an investment of more than INR 5,600
Crores , impacting rural youth pan-India.