The Centre is expanding its efforts to improve employability among Indian youth—particularly women—through focused skill development programmes under the Skill India Mission (SIM), the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.
As part of SIM, the government is providing training through schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), and the Craftsman Training Scheme (CTS) via Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). These programmes aim to equip youth with future-ready, industry-relevant skills, the ministry said.
To increase women’s participation, the government has introduced special provisions for transport, boarding and lodging, and post-placement support. PMKVY 4.0 has prioritised projects that designate women as the primary beneficiaries. Courses in sectors such as electronics, retail, healthcare, beauty and wellness, handicrafts, and apparel have been structured to attract more women trainees.
The ministry said that Skill Hubs and Special Projects are actively designed to align with local skill demands and facilitate rural women’s access to training. As a result, female participation in apprenticeship schemes has risen—from 22.79% in 2024–25 to 25.80% in 2025–26.
Under the JSS scheme, more than 80% of beneficiaries are women. The government also runs 19 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) and over 300 ITIs exclusively for women. A 30% reservation for women candidates has been approved across all ITIs—both government and private—allowing each state to implement its own reservation policy.
The MSDE has also launched several new initiatives. One of them is NAVYA, a pilot programme for adolescent girls (16–18 years) with at least Class 10 education. Developed in partnership with the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), NAVYA focuses on providing vocational training in non-traditional roles.
Additionally, the Swavalambini programme—launched in February 2025 in collaboration with the Women Entrepreneurship Platform of NITI Aayog—aims to nurture entrepreneurial mindsets among young women in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana. The initiative includes awareness and development training and is being implemented by NIESBUD (Noida) and IIE (Guwahati).
