Low Placement Rates Tarnish Karnataka's Skill Development Initiative

A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India highlights severe shortcomings in the Karnataka Skill Development Corporation's flagship scheme, revealing that only 18% of participants secured employment post-training. The scheme's original target was deemed unrealistic, with lapses in fund management and ineffective training impacting its success.

A recent report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India reveals that only 18% of candidates trained under the Karnataka Skill Development Corporation's flagship initiative have found employment, falling significantly short of the mandated 70%. This disparity underscores critical issues within the program.

Launched in May 2017, with ambitions to skill five lakh youth annually, the Chief Minister's Kaushalya Karnataka Yojane (CMKKY) faced substantial hurdles, training merely 1,15,822 individuals between 2017 and 2023. Additionally, mismanagement involving the lapse, retention, diversion, and excess release of funds plagued the scheme.

The absence of strategic frameworks, such as a Governing Council and proper skill gap assessments at the Taluk level, coupled with inadequate monitoring, hindered the scheme's ability to offer meaningful skill development and employment opportunities, thus failing its intended beneficiaries.

(With inputs from agencies.)