Government approves PMKVY-III with focus on industry 4.0: Minister

The government has approved the third phase of skill development scheme, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), with an increased focus on digital technology and industry 4.0, Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey said on Monday.

Addressing a webinar organised by Assocham, the Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said, as the second phase of the implementation of PMKVY is nearing completion, the third phase of the scheme has received the Centre's approval, paving the way for its launch.

"You will be happy to know that the second part (phase) of PMKVY is ending and the government has approved part three (of the scheme) prepared by us," Pandey said.

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The government launched the PMKVY scheme in 2015 and revamped it in 2016 to impart skills to one crore persons by 2020.

The revamped scheme, called PMKVY 2.0, moved to a grant-based model where the training and assessment cost would be directly reimbursed to training providers and assessment bodies in accordance with common norms.

Sharing future plans of the ministry, Pandey said, we are also working on Skill Management Information System, which will bring the entire skill ecosystem on a common web portal and work as an aggregator for demand and supply of skilled workforce.

The minister also highlighted the need to focus on employment in the current scenario and strengthening district skill committees.

He informed that the government plans to further simplify apprenticeship so that industries do not hesitate in absorbing their apprentices and they do so enthusiastically.

The minister also said that his ministry was compiling data of skilled persons across the country which would be made available at a single click.

Amid India-China border stand-off and calls for boycotting Chinese goods, the minister said, "Our neighbouring country" has understood it is facing a tough competitor as the entire nation stands united.

Twenty Indian Army personnel including a colonel were killed in a clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh leading to calls of boycotting Chinese goods across the country as well as curbing imports from the neighbouring nation.

In May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given a clarion call of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' to make India a self-reliant country.

In a veiled message to China, Pandey said, the neighbouring country has adopted an "expansionist policy", but this time it has "understood" it was facing a tough competitor.

"Our neighbouring country is realising how tough its competition is this time around...the entire country has united at all fronts," he said.

India and China had fought a brief war in 1962.