Sankalp Programme

Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) Scheme is a World Bank loan assisted programme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) with three key Result Areas (RA), namely (i) Institutional Strengthening at Central,State, and District level; (ii) Quality Assurance of skill development programmes; and (iii) Inclusion of marginalized population in skill development programmes. The implementation period of SANKALP is till March, 2023, and the positive outcome so far is seen in the following areas:

1. Strengthening of the District Skill Committees leading to demand-driven approach for the implementation of the PradhanMantriKaushalVikasYojana (PMKVY).
2. District-level skill planning through District Skill DevelopmentPlans.
3. Focus on improving access to skill training for Women, SC/ST and other marginalized weaker sections of thesociety.

The institutions strengthened so far under SANKALP are as under:

1. 1. State Skill Development Missions through State Incentive Grants.
2. 2. District Skill Committees through Mahatma Gandhi National  Fellowship (MGNF) program and capacity buildingtraining.
   3. Gram Panchayats by bringing skill training and certification within their ambit.

1. 4. Sector Skill Councils by linking them up with opportunities for industry-skilled manpower connection indistricts.
2. 5. National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) being an important implementing partner of pilotprojects.
3. 6. National Instructional Media Institute (NIMI) by augmenting resources through their management of the MGNF Program.

SANKALP is a supporting programme to skill training schemes which focuses inter-alia on improvement of quality, strengthening of institutions and inclusion of weaker sections in skill training.

SANKALP has undertaken several initiatives to contribute to improvement in employability, some of which are asunder:

1. Strengthening of District Skill Committees for improved access to and demand driven skill trainings foremployment.
2. Emphasis on skill certification in Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) at Gram Panchayat level for improving employmentqualitatively.
3. Funded development of an IT system namely “Skill India Portal” to capture the data for skilling related activities across thecountry.
4. Global Skill Gap study was conducted to identify the global gaps in demand and supply of skilled manpower as well as overseas employment opportunities for skilled workers from India. The Report helped in identifying important countries of interest as destination and job roles ofinterest.

5. Released Rs. 273.49 Crore as State Incentive Grants to 30 States/ UTs and Rs. 13.91 Crore to aspirational districts for implementation of SANKALP Scheme in the States/UTs.

6. Improving quality of trainers in Auto sector in collaboration with Automotive Skill Development Council (ASDC), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Maharashtra State Skill Development Society (MSSDS) at Aurangabad, Maharashtra.

7. A Gender Action Plan (GAP) has been prepared for promoting inclusion of women in Short term skilling and livelihood opportunities.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.