Skill development: Only 18 per cent secured placements post-training, says CAG report

Bengaluru, Aug 21 (PTI) Only 18 per cent of candidates trained under the Karnataka Skill Development Corporation's (KSDC) flagship scheme, secured placements post-training, falling far short of the mandated 70 per cent, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India report said.

It said the target envisaged by the Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood (SDEL) Department was found to be "unrealistic", and only 1,15,822 individuals were trained during the period 2017-2023.

The Chief Minister's Kaushalya Karnataka Yojane (CMKKY), a flagship training scheme of the SDEL was launched in May 2017, with an aim to skill five lakh youth annually.

The CAG report for the period ended March 2023, Report No 6 of 2025 (Compliance Audit - Civil) was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.

"SDEL had set an annual target of training 2.5 lakh youth under schemes to be implemented directly by SDEL (Channel-I) and 2.5 lakh under schemes to be implemented by other Government departments and Government bodies (Channel-II). The target envisaged by the Department/Skill Mission was found to be unrealistic and only 1,15,822 individuals were trained during the period 2017-2023," the report said.

"Further, only 21,055 candidates (18 per cent) secured placements post-training, falling far short of the mandated 70 per cent," it said.

The CAG said, instances of lapse of funds of Rs 173.53 crore, retention of funds of Rs 119.89 crore, diversion of funds of Rs 7.56 crore and excess release of funds of Rs 12.98 crore were also observed, rendering the scheme ineffective as seen from the cases of implementing agencies.

The scheme faced several shortcomings in monitoring and evaluation such as the non-constitution of a Governing Council (for State Skill Mission), lack of concurrent cum comprehensive evaluation of the scheme, inability of DSDOs (District Skill Development Officer) to fulfil their responsibilities in conducting regular inspections, etc, it said.

"Overall, the scheme did not lead to training the intended number of beneficiaries which impacted individuals seeking skill development and employment opportunities, leading to missed chances for economic empowerment and growth," it added.

Noting that the Taluk Skill Missions, mandated for skill gap assessment and coordination at the Taluk level, were not constituted in any of the 236 Taluks, the report said, consequently, planning for preparation of the State Annual Action Plan did not account for the requirements of skill development at the Taluk level.

"Additionally, skill gaps were not addressed in consultation with industries and candidates' demands, as their inputs were not considered while preparing the State Plans," it said. PTI KSU KH