More than 600 million Indian citizens, nearly half of the entire population, are under 25 years of age. Each one of them has the potential to excel if provided with proper training and guidance. The Government of India, intending to build an empowered workforce with the youth, launched a campaign named ‘Skill India.’

The campaign was launched on 15th July 2015 by the Prime Minister and functions under the Ministry of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship. The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) was formed to look after the various Skill India courses and initiatives. The campaign targets to train more than 40 Crore youths by the year 2022.

Some Of The Initiatives Launched Under The Skill India Mission

• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra
• UDAAN
• SANKALP
• Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana
• Green Skill Development Programme

The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is a notable initiative under this campaign which aims to boost skill development in India by providing training facilities to the youth and helping them secure a better future.

Components Included Under PMKVY

Under this scheme, the government bears the cost of training of the enrolled youths. The components of PMKVY under the Skill India Programme are –

• Kaushal and Rozgar Mela- To encourage active participation of the youth in the various skill development programmes.

• Short term Training Projects- Providing education and training to school or college dropouts. The training includes instruction on digital literacy, soft skills, entrepreneurship, and so on.

• Recognising Prior Learning- Youth having previous experience are offered certificates and access to several Bridge courses to overcome knowledge gaps.

• Monitoring- Monitoring centres are set up to look after the proper functioning of the training centres teaching Skill India courses across the country.

• Placement- To guide the young individuals to the right field as per their skills and potential.

• Special Projects- Unique training courses that are different from mainstream courses.

The primary objective of the Skill India Mission is to train the youth in market-relevant skills to help them generate higher income and a better standard of living.

List of Skill India Courses

The list comprises of 5 major categories of courses. The list of courses is given here-

• Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDP)- Counselling, Retraining and Redeployment (CRR) for Central Public Sector Undertakings, Women EDP, etc.
• Skill development programmes- Fashion designing, carpentry, electroplating, dairy-based entrepreneurship skill development programmes, and so on.
• Training of trainer programmes- Includes training of trainers in technology infusion, fashion designing, etc.
• Management and development programmes- Marketing programmes for managers, financial statement analysis, and so on.
• Other skill development programmes- Training in lending strategies for MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), promotion of micro-enterprises, etc.

Every sector of the economy is involved in the course list. Thus, each and every sector of the country will experience growth with the proper implementation of the Skill India initiative.

Individuals with an interest in other courses not included in the list of this campaign can consider other options to fund their education and training. Even if the desired course is included in the list, an individual might be deprived of the benefits due to failure in meeting the eligibility criteria. In such cases, when an individual requires a significant amount to fulfil his future endeavours, he can avail a loan against property for financing education and training.

You can borrow up to 70% of the market of the property you mortgage. This amount could go up to Rs. 1 Crore in case of a salaried individual and Rs. 3.5 Crore in case of a self-employed borrower. Loans against property come with simple eligibility criteria and nominal interest rates which students can meet.

Various non-banking financial institutions also bring pre-approved offers on financial products and services. Such offers facilitate a simple loan-application and loan-approval for borrowers. You can check your pre-approved offers by providing your name and phone on the official website.

You need to mortgage a property you own or co-own to avail the loan amount. If you do not have such a property, your parent/s can also avail the loan and finance your educational requirements with the loan. Loans against properties come with no end-user restriction, a borrower/s can use the funds as per his/her/their requirements. There are certain things to avoid before applying for a loan against property such as applying for too high a loan amount.

The government aims to provide the necessary training and skill development to more than 10 Million Indians by 2020. The course list and training programmes are likely to be improvised from time to time. Yet, if you are looking for a better and simpler funding option other than Skill India Programme, you can opt for a loan against property for your education or training.