Introducing the 2014 interim budget in parliament on Monday, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has proposed that Rs 1,000 crore be set aside for 2014-15 in addition to the same amount allocated during the previous year to scale up the programme of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) rapidly.
"The scheme was launched in August 2013 and has been widely hailed as a success. I propose to transfer anotherRs 1,000 crore next year to enable the trust to scale up the NSDC programme rapidly," Chidambaram said in his interim budget speech, adding that a similar amount allocated last year will be wholly transferred to the trust.
In order to leverage the demographic dividend, the government had last year announced the National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme to encourage youth to voluntarily enroll in institutions by providing them an incentive of Rs 10,000 to undergo training.
The idea was to train 10 lakh youth within a year from the date of implementation of scheme. Besides, the government allocated Rs 100 crore to the India Inclusive Innovation Fund under the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises.
The Finance Minister also informed the house that 168,043 youth had enrolled and 77,710 completed their training under national skill certification and monetary reward scheme that were launched in August 2013.
Currently, there are 24 Sector Skill Councils, 442 Training Partners and 17 Assessment Agencies as a part of the programme, while 204 job roles have been finalized.