Essential Skills Act: The must-have for Viksit Bharat in Budget 2025

India Budget: “Demography is destiny,” a phrase attributed to the renowned French philosopher and sociologist Auguste Comte nearly three centuries ago, highlights the impact of population size and composition on a nation’s future. A young skilled population can provide significant demographic dividends, driving economic growth and prosperity. Conversely, an unskilled young demography can continue to be a growth-drag.

Budget with ET

How Budget 2025 can walk the tightrope of India's 'sins'

Will Budget add more firepower to defence industry's local manufacturing?

Sitharaman and co to fuel India's luxe aspirations, premium growth?

Successive governments have made efforts to transform India’s demographic potential into a demographic dividend through skilling initiatives. Notable programmes such as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), the Craftsmen Training Scheme, the Jan Shikshan Sansthan initiative, and the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme have been launched over the past decade to impart vocational skills on a large scale. The desired outcome of such schemes is not just to create financial impact but also to equip the youth with transferable skills to help them succeed across their employment journey.

A study commissioned by the NITI Aayog to understand the impact of PMKVY across 4 states shows that employability of those enrolling with this initiative has increased. At the same, it also reveals a bitter truth—more than 80% of the trainees on an average are “not placed” and hardly 4% on an average are self-employed (as on date of the survey).