A Right to Information (RTI) query has revealed that Maharashtra Skill Development Corporation has failed to achieve even 50 per cent of its targets, three years after its establishment. According to RTI, a whopping sum of Rs 1.26 lakh has been spent on training every student, despite which, 25 per cent of the lot could not get a job after training. The training agencies feel that the gap has occurred due to the different definitions of the government and industries on what qualifies as skilled labour.
In a bid to achieve the skill development mission in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, the government of Maharashtra has envisioned equipping 45 million people with employable skills by 2022 under the Society Registration Act, 1860. However, not even half the targets have been met.
According to the data obtained under RTI by activists Milind Bembalkar and Vivek Velankar, it was revealed that in 2015-16, only 19,000 students out of the 75,000 (a target set by the state), who were being trained. Out of them, only 5,760 managed to bag a job. In 2017-18, the target was set to one lakh, out of which only 77,000 were trained and 31,248 secured a job.
Bembalkar called this phenomenon as a failure on the part of government.
He said, “While giving permissions, they should have surveyed and listed which district needs what kind of skills. They have started courses like computer training and beauty parlour training almost everywhere. For instance, if there are foundries in Kolhapur, the government should have started courses on this line. Instead, they have blindly initiated generic courses and refused permissions to other programmes. This is not helping the applicants and is leading to more problems.”
The training agencies citied a similar problems and claimed that they see a schism due to norms set by the government and the industries. Vishvesh Kulkarni, head of Yashasvi Training Agencies, said, “The training pattern follows three short courses over three months. For industries, someone who has undergone three months’ training, does not qualify as skilled labour. But the government claims that they should be considered as skilled labour and should be given all the benefits of an employee of the payroll. We have highlighted it multiple times. But the government is not ready to accept this. This is leading to the gap.”
Despite repeated attempts, the government officials could not be reached for comment.
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