Action Against PMKVY Irregularities

Context

Recently, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) blacklisted 178 Training Partners (TPs) and Training Centres (TCs) due to the large-scale irregularities in the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).

Key Highlights

These concerns were fraudulent records, missing students, inflated invoices and missing centres.

About Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)

• Introduced: 2015 through the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
• Agency: National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
• Purpose: To equip the youth with skills and certify them to become employable.
• Beneficiaries (until June 2025): More than 1.64 crore young people were trained.
• Budget (FY 2024-25): Rs 1,538 crore.
• Most Recent Phase: PMKVY 4.0 (2022-2026) – is dedicated to industry-related courses, online monitoring, and skill centers at the local level.
• Example
  • • Other corruption trends were previously pointed out in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan ghost schools and MGNREGA fake job cards – with a wider structural issue to the management of schemes.

Governing and Ethical/Administrative Issues

• Integrity & Accountability: Y Youth funds were stolen to benefit oneself which violated fiduciary trust.
• Transparency: Withholding information on the name of RTI citing confidentiality is lack of transparency in the administration of the populace.
• Public good and Private good: PPP model became exploitative without proper checking and balancing which breached the principle of public service orientation.
• Professional Ethics: The civil service officials and partners disregarded due diligence, honesty and fairness, which are some of the core values in the civil service.
• Justice and Equity: Real trainees did not have opportunities because the money was diverted to fake beneficiaries.
• Moral Hazard: The punishment systems were weak, which stimulated the reiteration of wrongdoing.

Implications

• Economic: Wasting tax payer money; inability to close the skill gap in India.
• Social: Youth and Employer mistrust of government certifications.
• Administrative: Stagnation of training processes in a number of districts; break of the employment pipeline.
• Reputational: Weakens Skill India Mission in India and derails Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.

Way Forward

• Empowering Monitoring and Evaluation: Trainees Aadhaar-based biometric attendance and geo-tagging.
  • • Auditing of TCs by third parties such as independent agencies such as CAG-empanelled firms.
• Reorganization of NSDC Governance Structure: Categorical implementation and regulation units to prevent conflict of interest.
  • • Make sure parliamentary checks and balances.
• Promoting Transparency: Publish the list of blacks, audit reports, and recoverability of funds.
  • • Enhance RTI adherence and data boarding.
• Linking Funds to Outcomes: Use an Outcome-Based Funding Model – do not give out payments without proven placement and skill certification.

Source: The Indian Express

Prelims PYQ

Q. ‘Recognition of Prior Learning Scheme’ is sometimes mentioned in the news with reference to (2017)

(a) Certifying the skills acquired by construction workers through traditional channels.
(b) Enrolling the persons in Universities for distance learning programmes.
(c) Reserving some skilled jobs to rural and urban poor in some public sector undertakings.
(d) Certifying the skills acquired by trainees under the National Skill Development Programme.

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