Despite the fact that India is a fast developing economy, difficulties have led the government to conclude that far more developmental activities are to be undertaken, in order to pump in more employment opportunities for the majority of Indians, enabling them to reap the benefits of growth and development and contribute to the welfare of the economy.

Let us look at a few statistics:

Thus, the Country is faced with the challenge of not only absorbing new entrants to the job market (estimated at seven million people every year), but also clearing the backlog. A large part of the unemployment problem erupts from the mismatch between the skill requirements of the employment opportunities and the skill base of the job-seekers. This particular mismatch is likely to become more acute in the future process of rapid structural changes in the economy. It is, therefore, necessary to capitalise the educational and training systems towards improving its capability to supply the requisite skills in the medium and long term and introduce greater flexibility in the training system so as to accelerate quick response to labour market changes in a short span of time.

Looking into this scenario, a number of schemes have been initiated by the central and the state governments in India, which aim to provide training and building skills for different vocations and job sectors.

The role of the central government lies in the following:

The central government is advised by the National Council of Vocational Training (NCVT), a tripartite body having representatives from employers, workers and central/state governments. Similar councils known as the State Councils for Vocational Training are constituted for the same purpose by the respective state governments at the state levels.

Some of the schemes at the national and state levels have been discussed in this article:

Craftsmen Training Scheme: The Directorate General of Employment and Training (DGE&T) in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, initiated the Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS) in 1950 by establishing about 50 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). The objectives of Craftsmen Training Schemes are to provide semi-skilled/skilled workers to the industry by giving systematic training to school drop outs and to reduce unemployment among educated youth by equipping them with suitable skills for industrial employment.

Some of the salient features of the Craftsmen Training Schemes are:

Apprenticeship Training Scheme: The National Apprenticeship Scheme was started in 1959 on a Voluntary Basis, followed by the Apprentices Act, which was enacted in 1961. Initially the Act envisaged training of Trade Apprentices only, but after a number of amendments like training of metric vocational stream as "Technician (Vocational)" Apprentices, it was finally amended in 2008. Some of the features of this scheme are:

Women’s Vocational Training Programme: The Women’s Vocational Training Programme at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Directorate General of Employment and Training (DGE&T), was designed and launched in 1977. The programme attempts to promote the women employment in the upcoming industries (mainly organised sector) as semi-skilled/skilled and highly skilled workers by increasing their participation in skill training facilities under Craftsmen Training Scheme and Advanced Skill Training Scheme and also the apprentices training scheme. The programme also offers higher skill training for the Instructors of various skill training organisations. To achieve this objective, exclusive women Institutes have been set up both under the central sector and the Centrally Sponsored Schemes.

Some of the training courses include: dress making, embroidery, needle craft, electronics, Data Tool Platform (DTP) operator etc.

Skill Development Initiative Scheme: The Skill Development Initiative Scheme (SDI Scheme) was launched by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, DGE&T with the following objectives:

Key features of SDI Schemes:

The TARA Livelihood Academy (TLA) is registered as a vocational training provider since the past two years under the Regional Directorate of Apprenticeship Training (RDAT) and all its courses are certified by the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT).

Besides, providing 25 per cent relaxation time to women and people belonging to SC/ST category, as a motivating factor, the approved courses include garment making, hospitality (hospitality assistant), Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Retail (Sales Person), Construction and Food Processing and Preservation.