Expert views to be sought on skills and education measures in budget

The government will seek expert views on the skills and education related announcements made in the Union Budget 2023-24 on Saturday following which high-level committees will be formed to lay out the roadmap for implementation.

Six working groups have been formed to deliberate and make suggestions on key Budget announcements including the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0, Skill India Digital Platform, Skill India International Centres, National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme, National Digital Library and Teachers Training.

Each group will prepare its own detailed report outlining strategies for the way forward and these recommendations will form the basis of policies and schemes that will be drafted on the above announcements.


A senior government official said that faster roll-out of Budget announcements followed by regular monitoring the progress of such initiatives will be the key to make India the skills capital of the world.

According to the official, a skill mapping study by the ministry of skills development and entrepreneurship across 16 countries has projected demand for 3.7 million skilled workforce in the next five years.

“India is keen to capitalize on this demand and provide employment opportunities to millions of its youth who will be joining the workforce over the next five years,” the official said.

The key discussions under the PMKVY 4.0 are expected to be around on-the-job training, industry partnership and alignment of courses with industry needs while the expert group on Skill India Digital Platform will deliberate on issues related to expanding the digital ecosystem for skilling.

Budget 2023-23 has enhanced allocation to MSDE by 17.3% to Rs 3517.3 crore as against Rs 2999 crore budgeted in 2022-23.

Between FY ’17 and FY ’23 (as of January 5, 2023), under PMKVY 2.0 about 11 million people have been trained, 83% certified and about 21.4 lakh placed, as per the Economic Survey 2022-23.

Budget 2023-24 unveiled the government's plan to launch the revamped PMKVY 4.0, setting up of 30 Skill India International Centres to open up job opportunities for Indian youths overseas while developing a Skill India Digital Platform.

Further, it said that the government will provide stipend support to 47 lakh youth in three years through direct benefit transfer for which a pan-India National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme will be rolled out.