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The number of rural youth who received training and placements under the Centre’s Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) declined drastically in 2020-21 even as rural areas were flooded with urban migrants returning to villages in search of livelihood during Covid-19 pandemic. DDU-GKY aims to skill rural youth who are poor and provide them with jobs having regular monthly wages or above the minimum wages.
The data available in the DDU-GKY website show only 31,297 rural youth received training under the initiative in 2020-21 and 49,464 youth got placement. In the previous year (2019-20) 2,44,051 youth were trained and 1,50,076 received placement, according to the data uploaded on the website as of May 20.
The decline in the training and placement is certain to affect the Ministry of Rural Development’s target to train and create employment for 28,90,797 rural youth by March 2022.
Since 2014-15 over 11,10,666 youth were trained which is 38 per cent of the total target. There is bigger shortfall in placements with 6,46,316 youth, accounting for 22 per cent of the target. While the placement ratio was targeted at 100 per cent, only 58 per cent has been achieved.
With the Covid-19 pandemic still going strong, the Ministry might face further problems to reduce the gap between the target and actual numbers.
DDU-GKY is one of the clusters of initiatives of the Ministry to promote rural livelihoods and is uniquely focused on rural youth between the ages of 15 and 35 years from poor families.
Top States
In 2020-21, Odisha was among the top three States that offered training to youth during the pandemic. Odisha trained 7,862 youth during this period while 7,729 found placement. Punjab trained 2,922 youth and 1,931 found placement while Andhra Pradesh trained 2,839 with 2,158 getting placement.
When it comes to placement Odisha topped the list. Even Uttar Pradesh trained just 1,490 youth, over 4,000 youth who had received training under the scheme got placement amidst pandemic while Chhattisgarh trained only 795 but 3,683 who had received training in previous years got placement in 2020-21.
Ongoing efforts
According to the Ministry of Rural Development even though rural India has been hit by the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic 1.85 crore persons have been offered work in May under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The work offered is 52 per cent higher than May 2019, which was 1.22 crore persons a day. Revolving Fund and Community Investment Fund amounting to approximately ₹56 crore was released to women Self Help Groups in 2021 compared to ₹32 crore in the corresponding period in 2020 to provide relief and generate employment.
The Cumulative Physical Progress and the Cumulative Expenditure under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) from 1 April to 12 May are 1795.9 km and ₹1,693.8 crore respectively in 2021, higher than the previous years, according to the Ministry data.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin, the Ministry has been able to log an expenditure of ₹5,854 crore in the current financial year compared to ₹2,512 crore in 2020-21 and ₹1,411 crore in 2019-20.
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