Skilling India: An Aspirational Challenge
123
28
Discussions with Dr Sandhya Bhullar, IAS, Director, Employment and Training and MD, Gujarat Skill
Development Mission, Government of Gujarat.
29
Skill Development in India–present status and recent developments, Swantini. Available at
.
30
Kaushalya Vardhan Kendra, Pioneering a flexible approach of skill development in rural Gujarat, a case study,
2014. Available at
The concept of Kaushalya Vardhan Kendras
(KVK) in Gujarat was launched in 2010. The
idea behind KVKs was to promote entrepre-
neurship and strengthen skill development
especially among the youngsters in rural areas.
The programme has reached 1.37 million
people since inception through a network of
500 KVKs established in four phases.
28
About
63 per cent of the trainees were women and 63
per cent are from SC/ST/OBC backgrounds.
KVKs are functional in villages having popula-
tion of 5000 and more (2500 in case of tribal
villages) and provide skill training for a cluster
of villages within a radius of 15 km.
KVKs adopt a decentralised, cluster
based approach for skill development that is
responsive to local cultures, traditional skills
and industry needs. Kaushalya Sabhas organised
in all villages within the catchment area. In
the Kaushalya Sabhas, KVK coordinators
interacted with potential training seekers and
interested groups to decide type of courses,
time schedules and infrastructure requirements
for the KVK. Once the courses were identified,
outsourcedmanpower including faculties from
registered manpower agency were deputed at
the KVKs.
Courses were selected on the basis of employ-
ment and self-employment opportunities avail-
able in the locality and cluster of villages. Courses
are designed on the basis of the participatory
approach of Kaushalya Sabhas based on the
WISHconcept:W—WomenOrientedCourses,
I—IndustryOrientedCourses, S—Soft Skill and
Service Sector Related Courses, H—Hard Core
Traditional Courses.
29
The courses also promote home-based
employment and entrepreneurship. 512 short
term courses were designed, considering
local need (40 to 576 hours of instruction
each). The courses that were most popular
and hence were introduced in most of the
KVKs, included computer fundamentals,
tally software, basic welding, electric wiring,
beauty and make up, hair dressing, tailoring
and garment stitching, domestic appliance
repairing, mobile repairing, plumbing and
motor driving. Apart from these, life skills in
1980 aspects are also imparted.
Some of the successful elements of KVK
included:
•
Utilization of existing institutions and
infrastructure—available government
buildings were identified and infrastructure
upgraded. Doorstep delivery of training.
•
Awareness campaigns were launched to
advertise the programme through a host
of meetings held at local schools and
panchayats. Street plays and folk theater
were staged along with staging signage and
information boards.
•
The KVK staff also establishes key link-
ages with industries, companies and job
providers in the proximity of KVK and
helps the trainees acquire jobs.
•
Apart from funding from the state gov-
ernment, a nominal fee of
`
50 is charged
from the candidates (no fees taken for
SC/ST/Women/Specially abled and BPL
candidates).
•
There is no upper age limit for candidates.
•
The hiring of faculty and trainers has been
formalised and outsourced.
•
The trainees receive a formal certificate
from Gujarat Council of Vocational
Training on course completion.
An annual budget of
`
20–25 lakhs for non
recurring expenses and
`
16 lakhs for recurring
expenses is allocated per KVK.
30
For purposes of
centralisedmonitoring by Commissionerate of
Employment and Training (CET), the National
Information Centre (NIC) has developed an
online portal. The coordinator at each KVK
updates information regarding enrolments.
The scheme was conferred the Prime
Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public
Administration for the year 2013.
Source:
/
document/file/KVK_case.pdf.
Box 6.1:
Kaushalya Vardhan Kendras of Gujarat
