Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that in contrast to the 40 crore jobs that PM Modi promised till 2022, only 1.25 per cent of the jobs have been realised till now.
Alleging that there are ghost beneficiaries in the Skill India programme under the Textile Ministry's Integrated Skill Development Scheme (ISDS), the Congress has demanded a probe. Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that in contrast to the 40 crore jobs that PM Modi promised till 2022, only 1.25 per cent of the jobs have been realised till now.
Singhvi said that an RTI filed by a social worker in Uttar Pradesh revealed that under the ISDS scheme, middlemen and touts use details like Aadhaar numbers of unsuspecting people to project them as beneficiaries of Skill India.
He also added that these middlemen demand up to Rs 10,000 from a candidate in lieu of approval of enrolments. Singhvi also said that most partner agencies, which he alleged are an active part of the BJP's eco-system, are entitled to 75 per cent of government subsidy, which ranges up to Rs 10,000 per candidate.
Singhvi also cited a Rajya Sabha reply dated August 8, 2018 by the Ministry of Skill Development which stated that, "As per data reported on Skill Development Management System (SDMS) portal, about 50 lakh candidates have been trained in the country so far since the inception of the scheme. Of the candidates certified under PMKVY as on 10.07.2018, Only 9.68 lakh candidates have been placed in various sectors across the country."
"This effectively means that the only 1.25 per cent of the targeted 40 crore people have been trained under Skill India. And, of these, less than 20 per cent have been placed. This is the pathetic record of the Modi government which allocated Rs 12,000 crore for the scheme," said Singhvi.
Singhvi also made a reference to government-appointed Sharda Prasad committee, which criticised the government in its report last year for setting an unachievable target of skilling 40 crore youth. "The committee had further found that the Modi government had been missing its targets over the previous two years as far as skilling the workforce was concerned. Analysing the government's performance on skilling the country's youth over a five-year period beginning 2011, the committee found that the only time the targets had been achieved was in 2013-14, during the tenure of the Congress-led UPA government," said Singhvi.
Singh said the Congress demands a comprehensive investigation in the matter to recover people's money lost to the irregularities.
Cites Ministry
- Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi cited a Rajya Sabha reply by the Ministry of Skill Development which stated that only 50 lakh candidates were trained and 9.68 lakh have been placed under the scheme.
- Under the Skill India scheme, PM Narendra Modi had promised to provide 40 crore youths with jobs.
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