Banning private sector’s entry into ITIs is not a solution: Minister

Speaking on the subject ‘Bold Philanthropy - how to amplify impact’ in the national capital, the Ministry’s Secretary KP Krishnan said: “We cannot ban the entry of the private sector into skill training centres, just because they are performing badly... the whole idea is to make them work.” His comments came after the opposition parties often claimed that Prime Minister’s scheme for the Ministry, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), was running with a poor track record.

Earlier on Aug 25, Krishnan, an economist who also worked with the World Bank, said private ITIs are performing worse when compared to the government ones as they lack quality labs and equipment. He also accused the private sector in India of not taking the skill training certifications seriously.

In Monday’s discussion, the bureaucrat, reiterating that the private ITIs were weak in skill and training, said that private players have been in the education system for the last 50 years. “Who are going to provide employment, it is the private sector... you cannot ban it,” he added.

PMKVY scheme was launched in 2015 to provide industry-relevant skill training to the youth so that they can secure a better livelihood, but it (the scheme) was soon riven with flaws. Both Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the Sharada Prasad Committee in its reports held the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) responsible for poor implementation of the scheme and pointed to its failure in reaching placement targets.