ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES (ESI)

TOPIC

IMPORTANT EMPLOYMENT SCHEMES

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Contents
Aam Admi Bima Yojana ............................................................................................................................. 3
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram .................................................................. 3
Shram Suvidha Portal .................................................................................................................................. 4
Random Inspection Scheme ..................................................................................................................... 4
Universal Account Number (UAN) for Employees Provident Fund ....................................................... 5
Launch of Apprenticeship Protsahan Yojna ............................................................................................ 5
Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana................................................................................................ 6
NPS Swavalamban (National Pension Scheme – Swavalamban)........................................................ 7
Startup India ................................................................................................................................................. 7
Other Initiatives........................................................................................................................................... 10
National Skill Development Mission ......................................................................................................... 11
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana ....................................................................... 12
Make In India Scheme: ............................................................................................................................. 13
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana .................................................................................................... 15
Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana: .................................................................................................................. 17
PowerTex India Scheme:........................................................................................................................... 17
National Career Service (NCS): ............................................................................................................... 18
National Policy on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship .............................................................. 18
National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme: ....................................................................................... 19
Other Schemes:.......................................................................................................................................... 20
Niryat Bandhu Scheme........................................................................................................................................ 20
Nai Manzil .......................................................................................................................................................... 20
Nai Roshni .......................................................................................................................................................... 20
Hunar Haat ........................................................................................................................................................ 20
USTAAD ............................................................................................................................................................. 21

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Schemes for Employment Generation (including social security schemes) and Skill Development:

In this document we shall see some of the salient features of the following schemes:
 Aam Admi Bima Yojana
 Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram
 Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana
 NPS Swavalamban
 Startup India
 National Skill Development Mission
 Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana
 Make in India
 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana
 Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana
 Power Tex India Scheme
 National Career Services
 National Policy on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
 National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme
 Other Schemes

Aam Admi Bima Yojana

 Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana is a Social Security Scheme for rural landless household. It was
launched on 2nd October, 2007.
 Under this scheme the head of the family or one earning member in the family of such a
household is covered.
 Premium: The premium of Rs.200/- per person per annum is shared equally by the Central
Government and the State Government, so the insured person has to pay no premium.
 Eligibility: The member to be covered should be aged between 18 and 59 years.
 The benefits under this scheme are as follows:
 On natural death – Rs. 30000/-
 On Death due to accident/on permanent total disability due to accident (loss of 2 eyes or 2
limbs) : Rs. 75000
 On partial permanent disability due to accident (loss of one eye or one limb): Rs. 37500/
 There is a fund called “Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana Premium Fund“, established by the Central
Government to pay the contribution by the Central Government. This fund is maintained by LIC.
Under the AABY, a free add-on benefit in the form of scholarship to children is also available.
 Note: The Ministry of Finance, under the Government of India made an approval for the merger
of Social Security Schemes viz., Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY) and Janashree Bima Yojana
(JBY). The merged scheme was hence renamed “Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana” and has come into
effect from January 1, 2013.

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram

The Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram was launched in October 2014 by
Government of India.

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Objective: To create conducive environment for industrial development and doing business with ease
and also expanding government support to impart skill training for workers.

This is an umbrella scheme with five schemes under it as follows:

A dedicated Shram Suvidha Portal: That would allot Labour Identification Number (LIN) to nearly 6
lakhs units and allow them to file online compliance for 16 out of 44 labour laws

An all-new Random Inspection Scheme: Utilizing technology to eliminate human discretion in

selection of units for Inspection, and uploading of Inspection Reports within 72 hours of inspection
mandatory

Universal Account Number: Enables 4.17 crore employees to have their Provident Fund account
portable, hassle-free and universally accessible

Apprentice Protsahan Yojana: Will support manufacturing units mainly and other establishments by
reimbursing 50% of the stipend paid to apprentices during first two years of their training

Revamped Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana: Introducing a Smart Card for the workers in the
unorganized sector seeded with details of two more social security schemes

Shram Suvidha Portal

The objective of the unified web portal is to consolidate information of Labour Inspection and its
enforcement, which will lead to transparency and accountability in inspections. The portal also has an
effective grievance redressal System.

The 4 main features of the portal are:

 Unique labour identification number (LIN) will be allotted to Units to facilitate online
registration.
 Filing of self-certified and simplified Single Online Return by the industry. Now Units will only
file a single consolidated Return online instead of filing 16 separate Returns.
 Mandatory uploading of inspection Reports within 72 hours by the Labour inspectors.
 Timely redressal of grievances will be ensured with the help of the portal.

With these facilities in its kitty, the Shram Suvidha Portal is expected to bring in necessary ease in
compliance of provisions related to labour and will be a step forward in promoting the ease of doing
business.

In this endeavour, complete information of all 11 lakh units for these organizations has been collected,
digitized and de-duplicated reducing the total number to 6-7 lakh. It is proposed to allot LIN to all
these 6-7 lakh units.

Random Inspection Scheme

The process of labour inspection has been generally opaque and the units for inspection were so far
selected locally without any objective criteria. The government has brought a new all India Random
Inspection Scheme to bring in transparency in the labour inspection.
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The key features of this scheme are as follows:

 Serious matters are to be covered under the mandatory inspection list.

 A computerized list of inspections will be generated randomly based on pre-determined
objective criteria.
 Complaints based inspections will also be determined centrally after examination based on data
and evidence.
 There will be provision of Emergency List for inspection of serious cases in specific
circumstances.
 Thus, this scheme is expected to provide a check on the arbitrariness in compliance mechanism.
It would utilize technology to eliminate human discretion in selection of units for Inspection,
and uploading of Inspection Reports within 72 hours of inspection mandatory.

Universal Account Number (UAN) for Employees Provident Fund

Under this scheme, complete information for approximately 4.17 crore subscribers of EPF has been
centrally compiled and digitized and a UAN has been allotted to all. The UAN is being seeded with Bank
account and Aadhar Card and other KYC details for financial inclusion of vulnerable section of society
and their unique identification.

Launch of Apprenticeship Protsahan Yojna

The Apprentices Act 1961 was enacted for regulating the Apprenticeship Training Scheme in the
industry for imparting on-the-job training to apprentices. Presently, there are only 2.82 lakh
apprentices undergoing training against 4.9 lakh seats.

Need for this scheme:

Apprenticeship Scheme has huge potential for training the large number of young person’s to make
them employable. Similar schemes have been highly successful in countries like Germany, China and
Japan where the number of apprentices are stated to be 3 million, 20 million and 10 million
respectively.

Drawbacks:

Present framework tightly regulates the number of apprentices trade-wise, and is not attractive to
youth because of low rate of stipend. Further the industry is averse to participate because the scheme
is not viable for the small industries. There are a large number of establishments including MSMEs
where training facilities are available but could not be utilized so far.

A major initiative has been undertaken to revamp the apprenticeship Scheme in India after extensive
consultation with industry, states and other stakeholders with the vision of increasing apprenticeship
seats to more than 20 lakhs in next few years.

There are four components of this initiative, which are given below:
 Making the legal framework friendly to both, industry and youth. The necessary Bill amending
the Act was placed and passed in Lok Sabha on 14.8.2014.
 Enhancing the rate of stipend and indexing it to minimum wages of semi-skilled workers.

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  Apprentice Protsahan Yojana which will support manufacturing units mainly and other
establishments by reimbursing 50% of the stipend paid to apprentices during first two years of
their training.
 Basic training component (mainly class room training part) of the curricula is being restructured
on scientific principles to make it more effective, and MSMEs will be supported financially by
permitting this component in government funded SDI scheme.

The Apprentice Protsahan Yojana will support one lakh apprentices during the period upto March
2017. Selected Apprentices and the Establishments ready to participate in this scheme from various
states will be invited and it is proposed that Prime Minister will give sanction letters to these to mark
the launch of the new scheme

Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana

 The Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) is a scheme to incentivize employers
registered with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for job creation by the
Government paying the 8.33% contribution of employers to the Employee Pension Scheme
(EPS) in respect of new employees having a new Universal Account Number (UAN) for the first
three years of their employment and is proposed to be made applicable for unemployed
persons that are semi-skilled and unskilled.
 The scheme is being implemented by the Ministry of Labour and Employment and is
operational since August, 2016. Thus, all new eligible employees will be covered under the
PMRPY Scheme till 2019 - 20.
 For the textile (apparel) sector, the Government will also be paying the 3.67% Employees
Provident Fund (EPF) contribution of the eligible employer for these new employees.
 This Scheme has a dual benefit, where, on the one hand, the employer is incentivized for
increasing the employment base of workers in the establishment, and on the other hand, a
large number of workers will find jobs in such establishments. A direct benefit is that these
workers will have access to social security benefits of the organized sector.

Scheme Eligibility

All establishments registered with Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) can apply for
availing benefits under the scheme subject to the following conditions

 Establishments registered with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) should also
have a Labour identification Number (LN) allotted to them under the Shram Suvidha Portal. The
LIN will be the primary reference number for all communication to be made under the PMRPY
Scheme.
 The eligible employer must have added new employees to the reference base of workers in
order to avail benefits under the Scheme from August, 2016 onwards. The reference base of
workers will be determined by the number of employees against whom the employer has
deposited the 12% (3.67% EPF + 8.33% EPS) with EPFO as on 31st

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  For new establishment coming into existence/getting registered with EPFO after 01 April, 2016,
the reference base will be taken as Zero/NL employees. Thus, the employer can avail of PMRPY
benefits for new eligible employees.
 The PMRPY Scheme is targeted for employees earning wages less than Rs 15,000/- per month.
Thus, new employees earning wages more than Rs 15,000/- per month will not be eligible. A
new employee is one who has not been working in an EPFO registered establishment on a
regular basis prior to 01 April, 2016 and will be determined by the allocation of a new Aadhaar
seeded Universal Account Number (UAN) on or after 01.04.2016. In case the new employee
does not have a new UAN, the employer will facilitate this through the EPFO portal.

NPS Swavalamban (National Pension Scheme – Swavalamban)

The scheme is applicable for all citizens of India (age group of 18-60 years) in the unorganized sector,
person will be deemed to belong to the unorganized sector if that person is not in regular employment
of the Central or a state government, or an autonomous body/ public sector undertaking of the Central
or state government having employer assisted retirement benefit scheme, are not covered by a social
security scheme under any of the following laws:

 Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act,1952

 The Coal Mines Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act,1948
 The Seamen's Provident Fund Act, 1966
 The Assam Tea Plantations Provident Fund and Pension Fund Scheme Act 1955
 The Jammu and Kashmir Employees' Provident Fund Act, 1961
 The scheme will be applicable to all persons in the unorganized sector subject to the condition
that the benefit of Central Government contribution will be available only to those persons
whose contribution to NPS is minimum Rs.1,000 and maximum Rs. 12,000 per annum, for both
Tier I and II taken together, provided that the person makes a minimum contribution of Rs.
1000 per annum to his Tier I NPS account.

Withdrawal/Exit

 The exit from the Swavalamban Scheme would be on the same terms and conditions on which
exit from Tier-I account of NPS is permitted, that is, exit at age 60 with 40% minimum
annuitization of pension wealth and exit before age 60 with 80% minimum annuitization of
pension wealth.

Startup India
 On 16 January, 2016, Union Government has launched a “Start-up India” action plan to give
boost to the Start-up India Movement.
 The action plan is first of its kind interaction between Indian government and start-up
community in India.
 India is now the world’s fastest growing and the third largest start-up ecosystem. As per the
newly launched plan, the Start-ups in India will get a head start on the back of a 19 point action
plan.

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These 19 action plans can be divided into four categories viz. Simple Rules, Processes and Compliance,
Tax sops, Funding Support and other actions.

Simple Rules, Processes and Compliance

COMPLIANCE REGIME BASED ON SELF-CERTIFICATION

 Regulatory compliance to various labour and environment law is very time consuming and
difficult process.
 New firms, which are unaware of the compliance norms, can be subjected to action by
regulatory authorities.
 The Start-up action plan aims to simplify the compliance norms. To keep the compliance cost
low and to allow the start-ups to focus on their core business, they are allowed to self-certify
their compliance with respect to 9 labour and environment laws.
 With respect to labour laws, Start-ups are exempted from inspection by authorities for 3 years.
 In case of environment laws, Start-ups declared under the ‘white category’ can self-certify their
compliance and only random checks will be conducted.

MOBILE APP AND PORTAL

A start-up would be allowed to set up by just filing a form through a mobile app and online portal.

FASTER PATENT EXAMINATION

 The union government has conceptualised a fast-track system for patent examination at lower
costs.
 The system will assist in promoting awareness and adoption of Intellectual Property Rights
(IPRs) by the start-ups.
 Start-ups will be provided an 80% rebate in filing of patents in comparison to other companies.
The scheme for Start-up Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) shall facilitate filing of Patents,
Trademarks and Designs by innovative Start-ups.

FASTER EXITS

To promote entrepreneurs to experiment with new and innovative ideas, without any worry about
complex exit process, a simple and swift exit process has been proposed for start-ups. The Insolvency
and Bankruptcy Code 2016 will provide faster process of wounding up of business within a period of 90
days.

STARTUP INDIA HUB

An all-India start-up hub will be created to act as single contact point for start-ups in India to help
entrepreneurs to exchange ideas and to access financial aid.

RELAXED NORMS OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

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  Government procurements often require ‘prior experience’. Such rules restrict the start-ups
from participating in such tenders.
 Presently, since 1st April 2015, the state governments and PSUs are mandatorily procuring a
minimum of 20% from the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME).
 To promote the start-ups, they will be given exemptions from conditions such as ‘prior
experience’ or ‘prior turnover’ without any relaxation in quality standards. The start-ups should
showcase their ability to execution of the project and should have their own manufacturing
facility in India.

Tax Sops

TAX EXEMPTION ON CAPITAL GAINS

 To encourage the flow of investments into start-ups, tax exemptions shall be given to the
persons on their capital gains, if such capital gains are invested in the Fund of Funds recognized
by the government.
 The existing capital gain tax exemption for investment in newly formed manufacturing MSMEs
by individuals shall be extended to all Start-ups. Investment in ‘computer or computer
software’ shall also be considered as purchases for promotion of technology driven star-ups.

TAX EXEMPTION FOR 3 YEARS

 To facilitate the growth of Start-ups in India through a competitive platform, the profits of start-
ups are given exemption for a 3 year period from income tax. The exemption shall be available
subject to non-distribution of dividend by the Start-up.

TAX EXEMPTION IN INVESTMENTS ABOVE FAIR MARKET VALUE

The government has also exempted tax above fair market value for incubators in start-ups. Earlier, the
exemption was given to venture capital funds investing in start-ups.

Funding Support

Rs. 10,000-CRORE FUND OF FUNDS

 To provide funding support to start-ups, a fund will be set up by the government with an initial
corpus of 2,500 crore rupees and a total of 10,000 crore rupees over next four years.
 The fund will be act as a Fund of Funds (FoF) i.e. it will not be invested directly in start-ups, but
it will participate in the capital of the SEBI registered venture funds.
 Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) will be an investor in the FoF. The FoF will be managed by a
board with private professionals from industries, academia and successful start-ups. The FoF
will provide support to various sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, health, education,
etc.

CREDIT GUARANTEE FUND

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  Debt funding to start-ups is considered as a high risk area by the banks and other financial
institutions.
 To encourage debt funding to start-ups, a credit guarantee mechanism through National Credit
Guarantee Trust Company (NCGTC) is being envisaged with a budgetary Corpus of INR 500
crore per year for the next four years.
 The loan will be secured by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd. (NCGTC) through a
credit guarantee scheme for which Department of Financial Services will be key agency.
 The objective of this initiative is to institutionalize a credit structure in country to offer loans
between Rs 10 lakhs to Rs. 100 lakhs payable in 7 years. It also aims to help non-farm sectors by
SCs, STs and women borrowers and serve under served pollution.
 The margin money of the composite loans will be up to 25% and state schemes are expected to
further reduce actual requirement of margin money for loans. The initiative also proposes to
develop credit history of borrowers through credit bureaus.

Other Initiatives
STARTUP FESTS

The government will implement the various measures for promoting research and innovation among
students.

ATAL INNOVATION MISSION

The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) will have two core functions viz. entrepreneurship promotion
through Self-Employment and Talent Utilization (SETU), wherein innovators would be supported and
mentored to become successful entrepreneurs, and innovation promotion to provide a platform
where innovative ideas are generated.

INNOVATION CENTRES AT NATIONAL INSTITUTES

The government will set up 35 new incubators, 31 innovation centres at national institutes. Seven new
research parks – six in IITs and one in IISc shall be set up by government with an initial investment of
Rs.100 crore each.

BIOTECHNOLOGY BOOST

Five new bio clusters, 50 new bio incubators, 150 technology transfer offices and 20 bio connect
offices will be established.

INNOVATION CORE (PROGRAMMES FOR STUDENTS)

It shall be launched to target school children in 5 lakh schools. Out of the total innovations from school
children, the best 100 would be selected and are showcased at the Annual Festival of Innovations in
the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

NIDHI

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The National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations is a grand challenge programme to
support and award 10 lakh rupees to 20 student innovations from Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Development Centres (IEDCs).

UCHHATTAR AVISHKAR YOJANA

It is a joint programme of Ministry of HRD and Department of Science and Technology that aimed at
fostering ‘very high quality’ research among IIT students. The scheme will make a bridge between the
academics and the practical working on field.

National Skill Development Mission

The need for this mission:

 Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development in a
country.
 As opposed to developed countries, where the percentage of skilled workforce is between 60%
and 90% of the total workforce, India records a low 5% of workforce (20-24 years) with formal
vocational skills.
 Realizing the importance, more than 20 Ministries/Departments run 70 plus schemes for skill
development in the country.
 The National Skill Development Mission launched by the Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship on July 15, 2015, aims to create convergence across sectors and States in
terms of skill training activities.
 Besides consolidating and coordinating skilling efforts, it also aims to expedite decision making
across sectors to achieve skilling at scale with speed and standards.

Mission Statement
To rapidly scale up skill development efforts in India, by creating an end-to-end, outcome-focused
implementation framework, which aligns demands of the employers for a well-trained skilled
workforce with aspirations of Indian citizens for sustainable livelihoods.
Mission Strategy

National Skill Development Mission will initially consist of seven sub-missions under its purview. Each
sub-mission will act as a building block for achieving the overall objectives of the Mission.

Sub-missions:
Seven sub-missions have been proposed initially to act as building blocks for achieving overall.

Objectives of the Mission:

They are: (i) Institutional Training, (ii) Infrastructure, (iii) Convergence, (iv) Trainers, (v) Overseas
Employment, (vi) Sustainable Livelihoods, (vii) Leveraging Public Infrastructure.
Key focus areas of the sub-mission include:

 addressing the long-term and short-term skilling needs through revamp of existing institutional
training framework and establishing new institutions

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  undertake sector specific skill training initiatives
 ensure convergence of existing skill development programmes
 leverage existing public infrastructure for skilling
 focus on training of trainers
 facilitate overseas employment, and
 promote sustainable livelihoods

Financing

The implementation of skilling activities under the Mission will be as per the budget provisions of
various schemes under their respective heads of account. The administrative expenses of the Mission
will be borne from the budget of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana

Need for this scheme:

 According to Census 2011, India has 55 million potential workers between the ages of 15 and
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 developing skills and productive capacity of the rural youth from poor
families. It was launched in September, 2014.
 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 bridges this gap by funding training projects benchmarked to global standards, with
an emphasis on placement, retention, career progression and foreign placement.

Features

 Enable Poor and Marginalized to Access Benefits: Demand led skill training at no cost to the
rural poor
 Inclusive Program Design: Mandatory coverage of socially disadvantaged groups (SC/ST 50%;
Minority 15%; Women 33%)
 Shifting Emphasis from Training to Career Progression: Pioneers in providing incentives for job
retention, career progression and foreign placements
 Greater Support for Placed Candidates: Post-placement support, migration support and alumni
network
 Proactive Approach to Build Placement Partnerships: Guaranteed Placement for at least 75%
trained candidates
 Enhancing the Capacity of Implementation Partners: Nurturing new training service providers
and developing their skills

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  Regional Focus: Greater emphasis on projects for poor rural youth in Jammu and Kashmir
(HIMAYAT). In the North-East region and 27 Left-Wing Extremist (LWE) districts it is named as
ROSHINI.
 Standards-led Delivery: All program activities are subject to Standard Operating Procedures that
are not open to interpretation by local inspectors. All inspections are supported by geo-tagged,
time stamped videos/photographs.

Eligibility: Rural Youth: 15 - 35 Yrs and SC/ST/Women/PCTG/PWD: upto 45 Yrs

Implementation Model:

DDU-GKY follows a 3-tier implementation model. The DDU-GKY National Unit at MoRD functions as
the policy-making, technical support and facilitation agency. The DDU-GKY State Missions provide
implementation support; and the Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) implement the programme
through skilling and placement projects.

Make In India Scheme:

 In order to make India a manufacturing hub, PM Narendra Modi launched the Make In India
Campaign at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on September 26, 2014.
 The promotion is intended to appeal foreign companies to set up their manufacturing units in
India and to obtain larger foreign investment.
 P.M. Narendra Modi on his Independence Day speech had declared the Make in India policy.

Sectors for job creation: The ‘Make In India’ places stress on 25 sectors with emphasis on job creation
and skill development. These include: automobiles, chemicals, IT, pharmaceuticals, textiles, ports,
aviation, leather, tourism and hospitality, wellness, railways, auto components, design manufacturing,
renewable energy, mining, bio-technology, pharmaceuticals and electronics, etc.

Achievable Targets

 Target of an increase in manufacturing sector growth to 12-14% per annum over the medium
term.
 An increase in the share of manufacturing in the country’s Gross Domestic Product from 16% to
25% by 2022.
 To create 100 million additional jobs by 2022 in manufacturing sector.
 Creation of appropriate skill sets among rural migrants and the urban poor for inclusive growth.
 An increase in domestic value addition and technological depth in manufacturing.
 Enhancing the global competitiveness of the Indian manufacturing sector.
 Ensuring sustainability of growth, particularly with regard to environment.

World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business: 2017

Make In India scheme’s progress can be gauged from the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index:

 In 2014, India was ranked at 134 (out of 189) nations.

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  India has been placed at 130th position among the 190 countries in the recently released World
Bank’s ease of doing business index for the year 2017.
 The index was released as part of the World Bank’s annual report Doing Business 2017: Equal
Opportunity for All.
 This report had revised India’s rank to 130 from earlier 131st for the year 2016.
 In this index, ranking of country is based on index averages the country’s percentile rankings on
10 indicators each having equal weightage.
 A higher ranking of country in this list means that its regulatory environment is more conducive
and favourable for the starting and operation of firms.
 10 indicators are starting business, getting electricity, dealing with construction permits,
registering property, protecting investors, getting credit, employing workers, trading across
borders, paying taxes, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.

India Related Facts:

 In the ranking, India has made a substantial improvement in some areas such as electricity
connection. But it has slipped in other areas, including payment of taxes and enforcing
contracts.
 India has embarked on a fast-paced reform path and has acknowledged a number of
substantial improvements.
 Some the improvement mentioned are electricity connections to businesses, paying taxes,
electronic system for paying employee state insurance contributions, the Companies
(Amendment) Act, electronic filing of integrated customs declarations, passage of the
commercial courts and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

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Update: May, 2017:

The Union Cabinet Chaired by Prime Minister has given its approval for a national procurement
policy that gives preference to ‘Make In India’ in government procurements.

The policy aims to maintain the balance between promoting ‘Make in India’ and ensuring timely,
quality and value-for-money products for the procuring government entities.

The new policy will boost domestic manufacturing and service provision and will enhance income
and employment. It will facilitate flow of capital and technology into domestic manufacturing and
services. As the government procurement is always substantial it can contribute towards increasing
the participation of local employees and improve their living conditions.

Salient Features:

 The national procurement policy will provide purchase preference to local content in
Government procurements. Local content essentially means domestic value addition and
local suppliers are those whose goods or services meet minimum thresholds (50%) for local
content.
 For the procurement of goods below Rs 50 lakhs, only local suppliers will be eligible if the
Nodal Ministry determines that there is a availability of sufficient local capacity and local
competition.
 For procurements valued above Rs 50 lakhs or in case of insufficient local capacity and if the
lowest bid happens to be from a non local supplier, then the lowest-cost local supplier who
is within a margin of 20% of the lowest bid, will be offered an opportunity to match the
lowest bid. If the order can be split into more than one supplier, the order will be split
between the non-local supplier and the local supplier.
 Small procurements valued below Rs.5 lakhs are exempted from the policy.
 The order also covers autonomous bodies and all the government entities under the control
of the government.
 The policy primarily favours self-certification for verification of local content. However, if the
declarations were found to be false then the supplier will have to face penal consequences.
 A Standing Committee in Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) will oversee
the implementation of this order. It will further make recommendations to Nodal Ministries
and procuring entities.

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

Aim: To provide skills training for the youth.

Implementing Ministry: Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (through the National
Skill Development Corporation).

Primary focus: Class 10 and 12 dropouts.

Initial Outlay: 1500 crores.

Salient Features:

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  The Skill training would be based on the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) and
industry led standards.
 Under the scheme, a monetary reward is given to trainees on assessment and certification by
third party assessment bodies.
 The average monetary reward is around Rs.8,000 per trainee.
 The target for skill development will also take into account the demands from various other
flagship programs launched in recent times such as Make in India, Digital India, National Solar
Mission and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
 The PMKVY, will primarily focus on the first time entrants to the labour market and target
mainly dropouts from Class 10 and Class 12
 Special emphasis has been given to recognition of prior learning.
 Awareness building and mobilization efforts would be focused for attention. Mobilization
would be done through skill melas organized at the local level with participation of the State
Governments, Municipal Bodies, Panchayati Raj Institutions and community based
organizations.
 Skill training would be done on the basis of recent skill gap studies conducted by the NSDC for
the period 2013-17.
 For assessment of demand of Central Ministries/Departments/State Governments, industry and
business would be consulted.
 With rural population still forming close to 70% of India's population, enhancing the
employability of rural youth is the key to unlocking India's demographic dividend.
 With this in mind, the GOI has launched the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gramin Kaushalya Yojana
(Under Ministry of Rural Development and not Ministry of Skill Development. This scheme has
been already discussed in this document).

Update June 2017:

World Bank clears $250-million loan for Skill India Mission:
 The World Bank has cleared a $250 million loan for making Indian youth more employable
through reskilling.
 Under the programme, persons in the age group of 15-59 will acquire skill training irrespective
of their employment status.
 This will benefit 1.2 crore youngsters in the age bracket of 15 and 29 years who are entering
the labour market every year.
 The programme is expected to benefit approximately 15,000 trainers and 3,000 assessors.
 The programme will be implemented through National Skill Development Mission and will
specifically target labour market entrants.
 The USD 250 million Skill India Mission Operation (SIMO) is set to increase the market
relevance of short-term skill development programmes (3-12 months or up to 600 hours) both
at the national and state levels. It will help the government of India to better equip the young
workforce with employable skills.
 The programme has also a mandate to offer placement and entrepreneurship opportunities to
women and increase their exposure to skill training.

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  SIMO will be a six- year programme in support of the Indian government’s National Policy for
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (2017-23).

Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana:

 The Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has launched of Pradhan Mantri
Yuva Yojana (PMYY) to scale up an ecosystem of entrepreneurship for youngsters on 10th
November, 2016.
 The scheme was launched by Union Minister of State (I/C) for Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy to mark 2nd Foundation Day of Ministry of Skill
Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).

Salient Features:
 PMYY is MSDE’s flagship scheme on entrepreneurship education and training. The scheme
spans over five years (2016-17 to 2020-21) with a project cost of 499.94 crore rupees.
 It will provide entrepreneurship education and training to over 7 lakh students in 5 years
through 3,050 institutes.
 It will provide easy access to information and mentor network, incubator, credit and
accelerator and advocacy to create a pathway for the youth.
 The institutes under the PMYY include 2,200 institutes of higher learning (colleges, universities,
and premier institutes), 500 ITIs, 300 schools and 50 entrepreneurship development centres
through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

PowerTex India Scheme:

 Union Textiles Minister, Ms. Smriti Irani launched PowerTex India Scheme on 1st April 2017
at Bhiwandi in Thane district of Maharashtra.
 It is a gamut of schemes aimed at development of powerloom sector in India with a special
focus on small powerloom weavers.
 The scheme was simultaneously launched at 45 locations across India.
 PowerTex India helpline for scheme related assistance and for nationwide publicity of scheme,
a PowerTex van was also flagged off.

Components of PowerTex India Scheme:

 In-situ upgradation scheme of Plain Powerlooms: Provides subsidy to financially weak
powerloom unit owners for upgradation of looms. As a result of upgradation, productivity and
quality of fabrics will improve, which will provide a competitive edge to powerloom fabrics in
domestic and international markets.
 Group Workshed Shceme (GWS): Provides subsidy for construction of worksheds for
shutterless looms. This will provide better working conditions in terms of more space.
 Yarn Bank Scheme: Under this scheme, Government of India will provide Interest-Free corpus
fund to Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) or Consortium to purchase yarn at wholesale price. This
will benefit weavers by eliminating middlemen’s commission and local suppliers’ brokerage.

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  Common Facility Centre: Government of India will provide Rs. 2 crore subsidy to setup
Common Facility Centre having pre-weaving and post-weaving facilities.
 Pradhan Mantri Credit Scheme for Powerloom weavers: Provides access to affordable credit
facility to powerloom units (including SC, ST and Women Entrepreneurs) through Pradhan
Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) and Stand-up India. Under PMMY in context of PowerTex India
Scheme, decentralised powerloom unit/weavers will be provided 20% margin money of the
project cost, subject to a ceiling of Rs. 1 lakh. They will also get benefit of interest subvention at
the rate of 6% per annum on working capital and term loans up to Rs. 10 lakh for 5 years.
Under Stand-up India in context of PowerTex India Scheme, SC, ST & Women Entrepreneurs will
be provide 25% margin money of project cost, subject to a ceiling of Rs. 25 lakh.
 Solar Energy Scheme: Provides subsidy to set up on-grid or off-grid Solar Photo Voltaic Plant.
This scheme will help weavers to save power cost and will also promote usage of renewable
energy.
 Tax venture Capital Fund: Capital required for expansion will be provided to Micro Small and
Medium Enterprises by Ministry of Textiles through SIDBI Venture Capital Fund Ltd (SVCL).
 Financial assistance will be provided for modernization and technological upgradation of
Powerloom Service Centres (PSCs).

National Career Service (NCS):

 NCS project is being implemented by the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment. It was
launched in 2015.
 It is an ICT based portal developed to provide a wide variety of employment related services to
job seekers and youth through technology.
 NCS portal facilitates registration of job seekers, job providers, skill providers, career
counsellors, etc. free of cost.
 Since its launch, the NCS has grown significantly with over 3.6 crore job seekers, 9 lakh
employers. It had mobilized over 1 lakh jobs in the last few months.

Update: August, 2016:

NCS signed a MoU with strategic partners for enhancing quality and reach of employment services
through the NCS network:
 These MoUs were signed with job portals companies Indeed, First Job, Freshersworld, Merajob
and HT Shine etc. to enhance quality and reach of its employment generation services.
 Earlier, the NSC had partnered with leading organizations like Uber, Monster.com, Saral Rozgar,
Quikrjobs, Indian Staffing Federation etc for the same purpose.

National Policy on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship

 The National Policy on Skill Development was first formulated in 2009 and it provided the
framework for skill development activities in the country.
 Over the years, changes in the macro environment, and the experience gained through
implementation of various skill development programmes in the country have necessitated
changes in the policy.

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  Accordingly, the National Skill Development Policy, 2015 was formulated, and it supercedes the
Policy of 2009.

Vision and thrust areas of the policy:

Vision:
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.

To achieve this Vision, the Policy has four thrust areas.

 It addresses key obstacles to skilling, including low aspirational value, lack of integration with
formal education, lack of focus on outcomes, low quality of training infrastructure and trainers,
etc.
 Further, the Policy seeks to align supply and demand for skills by bridging existing skill gaps,
promoting industry engagement, operationalising a quality assurance framework, leverage
technology and promoting greater opportunities for apprenticeship training.
 Equity is also a focus of the Policy, which targets skilling opportunities for
socially/geographically marginalised and disadvantaged groups.
 Skill development and entrepreneurship programmes for women are a specific focus of the
Policy.
 In the entrepreneurship domain, the Policy seeks to educate and equip potential
entrepreneurs, both within and outside the formal education system.
 It also seeks to connect entrepreneurs to mentors, incubators and credit markets, foster
innovation and entrepreneurial culture, improve ease of doing business and promote a focus on
social entrepreneurship.

Financing

National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) has been set up by Government of India with the objective of
encouraging skill development in the country. A public Trust set up by Government of India is the
custodian of the Fund. The Fund acts as a receptacle for all donations, contribution in cash or kind
from all contributors (including Government, multilateral organizations, corporations etc) for
furtherance of the objectives of the Fund.

National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme:

 On July 06, 2016, The Union Cabinet has approved a National Apprenticeship Promotion
Scheme (NAPS) for providing apprenticeship training to over 50 lakh youngsters in order to
create more jobs.
 The Scheme has an outlay of 10,000 crore rupees and a target of training 50 lakh apprentices by
2019-20.
 Salient Features:

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  It will be implemented by Director General of Training (DGT) under the aegis of Union Ministry
of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
 Union Government for the first time will provide financial incentives to the employers to
engage apprentices.
 Union Government will directly share 25% of the total stipend payable to an apprentice with
employers.
 In addition, Union Government will also support basic training which is considered an essential
component of apprenticeship training.
 Union Government will bear the 50% of the total expenditure incurred on providing basic
training to an apprentice.

Other Schemes:

Niryat Bandhu Scheme

 The objective of the Niryat Bandhu Scheme is to reach out to the new and potential exporters
and mentor them through orientation programmes, counselling sessions, individual facilitation,
etc., for being able to get into international trade and boost exports from India.

Nai Manzil
 It aims to engage constructively with Poor Minority youth and help them obtain sustainable and
gainful employment opportunities that can facilitate them to be integrated with mainstream
economic activities.
 Integrated Skill Training is being provided to the youth in market driven skills.
 The other objectives include, raise awareness and sensitization in health and life skills, Mobilize
school drop-out minority youths with formal education and certification upto level 8th or 10th
through National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) or other State open schooling systems.
 It was launched for the first time in J&K in 2016, where girls from minority communities are
being imparted three-month skill development training in seven identified sectors relevant to
the region.

Nai Roshni
 It is a scheme for leadership development among Minority Women.
 The objective is to empower and instill confidence among minority women by providing
knowledge, tools and techniques for interacting with Government systems, banks and other
institutions at all levels.

Hunar Haat
 Hunar Haat (Skill Haat) is an exhibition of handicrafts, embroidery etc made by the artisans
from the Minority Communities organized by the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
 They will be provided free of cost stall, the arrangements for their transport and their daily
expenses.
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  Two such Haats has been conducted so far and the Ministry has been working to establish
“Hunar Hub” in all the states where programmes such as “Hunar Haat” and other cultural
events will be organized.

USTAAD
 Upgrading the Skills in Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development (USTAAD) is a 100%
central sector scheme.
 The scheme aimed at capacity building and updating the traditional skills of master
craftsmen/artisans. These trained master craftsmen/artisans will train the minority youths in
various specific traditional arts/crafts.
 Under the Scheme, skill development programme will be provided for all important traditional
arts/crafts being practiced by minority communities, for their development and market
linkages.

World Youth Skills Day:

 World Youth Skills Day that annually falls on July 15 is one of new UN International Days of
observance. It was established by the UN General Assembly on November 11, 2014.
 Observance of the day aims to create more awareness on training and the development of skills
for the youth of today and also create better employment opportunities for the youth.
 Theme for 2017: Skills for All. It is aimed at creating awareness that everyone should have the
opportunity to discover and develop their talents. It also spreads message of creating a more
prosperous future through skills.
 On the occasion, United Nations along with WorldSkills.org have organized campaigns
#SkillsForAll and #WYSD. These campaigns aim to raise awareness about the importance of
youth developing skills.
 Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) celebrated the second anniversary
of Skill India Mission on the World Youth Skills day. Skill India Mission was launched on this day
in July, 2015.
 100 GST training centres, 51 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras and 100 Yoga training centres
were inaugurated on this occasion.
 Ministry of Skill Development &Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has announced a national training
Programme to certify GST practitioners under its scheme of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas
Yojana (PMKVY). It would facilitate the country’s transition to the new tax regime.

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Update: July, 2017:

Foundation stone of country’s biggest Global Skill Park laid in Bhopal:

 Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Pratap Rudy and
MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has laid the foundation stone of the country’s biggest
Global Skill Park in Bhopal.
 The 37-acre land has been allotted in Narela Shankari area of Bhopal for the Global Skill Park.
 It will be established with the support of Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education and
Education Services (ITEES).
 The park will be constructed at a cost of 645 crore rupees.
 The objective of the Global Skill Park is to prepare skilled youths who could get jobs in private
companies as per their requirements. Besides, the youths will be able to get employment
opportunities in foreign countries.
 Training will be imparted to 1000 students every year by trainers of international standard.
 The park will function on the spirit of ‘With Industry -For Industry’.
Budget 2017-18:
The following announcements were made in the Budget 2017-18 with the motive to increase
employment and enhance skill development.

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKK) - PMKK have already been promoted in more than 60
districts. Government now proposes to extend these Kendras to more than 600 districts across the
country. 100 India International Skills Center will be established across the country. These centers
would offer advanced training and also courses in foreign languages.

SANKALP - In 2017-18, government also proposes to launch the Skill Acquisition and Knowledge
Awareness for Livelihood Promotion Programme (SANKALP) at a cost of Rs. 4,000 crore. SANKALP will
provide market relevant training to 3.5 crore youth.

STRIVE - The next phase of Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE) will also be
launched in 2017-18 at a cost of Rs. 2,200 crores. It will focus on improving the quality and market
relevance of vocational training provided in ITIs and strengthen the apprenticeship
programmes through industry cluster approach.

Textile, Leather and Footware industries - A special scheme for creating employment in the textile
sector has already been launched. A similar scheme will be implemented for
the leather and footwear industries.

Special Tourism Zones - Tourism is a big employment generator and has a multiplier impact on the
economy. 5 Special Tourism Zones, anchored on SPVs, will be set up in partnership with the States.

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