The Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana Is an important government scheme that focuses on rural development in India. It is a centrally sponsored scheme and was announced in the year 2014. It is a part of the National Rural Livelihood Mission with two major objectives of catering to the career needs of rural youth and incorporating diversity into the incomes of the rural families.
The Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana is a demand-driven skills training program that is placement-linked and mainly focuses on the rural youth that is between the ages of 15 and 35.
In order to tackle the several challenges that prevent the rural poor of India from competing in the modern market, like the lack of formal education and marketable skills, the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana was launched to bridge the gap by funding training projects standardised to global standards, with extra emphasis on placement, retention, foreign placement and career development.
Eligibility criteria
Some of the necessary conditions and eligibility criteria of the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana are given below:
- Entities should be registered under the Indian Trust Acts or any State Society Registration Act or any State Cooperative Societies or Multi-State Cooperative Acts or the Companies Act 2013 or the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2008 or Government or a semi-government organisation at the State and National Level.
- Entities should exist as an operational Legal Entity in India for over 3 financial years. This is not applicable in the case of NSDC Partners
- The entity should have a positive net worth for a minimum of two years out of the three financial years. This is not applicable in the case of NSDC Partners.
- The turnover of the entity should be in excess of at least 25% of the proposed project.
- Rural youth should be between the age of 15 to 35 years
- The age relaxation up to 45 years is available for women, SC/ST and physically disabled people
- The candidate should have a BPL card
- The candidate should have a BPL PDS card
- The candidate should have an RSBY or Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana Card
- Any family member should be a member of a registered Self-Help Group in the village
- Any family member is a paid worker under MGNREGA with a minimum of 15 days of work in the last 12 months
Implementation Model
The Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana functions in a three-tier model:
- On the top is the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana National Unit at the Rural Development Ministry which works as the policy-making, technical support and facilitation agency
- Below is the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana State Missions that provides the implementation support
- At the lowest level are the Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) that carry out the programme through skilling and placement projects.
Scale and Impact
The Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana is applicable throughout the country. The scheme is also being implemented currently in 13 states/UTs across 460 districts partnering with 82 PIAs currently covering 18 sectors.