Currently, only a very small proportion of India’s workforce has formal skill training of any kind. Not surprisingly, several sectors of the country’s economy face shortage of skilled people and are mired with low productivity due to poor quality of workforce. At the same time, large sections of the country’s youth are looking for economic and livelihood opportunities. In this context, skill development has become a key priority area for the country. This is not only essential for economic development, but would also help to fulfill youth aspirations for good quality, better paid jobs and self-employment opportunities. This would also enable the country to take advantage of its favorable demographic profile. With a large pool of skilled people, India has an opportunity to become a skill provider for the world, particularly the ageing developed world.

While there is an urgent need for skill training across the country, the absence of sufficient training avenues prevents the people from acquiring skill training and certification through formal channels. As a result, most of the skill acquisition takes place through informal channels such as family occupation, on-the-job training under master craftsman, etc. These skills go unrecognized as they are not acquired through formal means and are never formally recognized. This prevents some section of skilled workforce from accessing formal employment opportunities, utilizing their experience to further taking up educational course and benefiting from other career progression opportunities available through formal training system. The program trains, assesses and certifies those who have acquired their skills informally.