Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) is the flagship placement
linked skill-training programme under the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD). Announced
in 2014, DDU-GKY is a critical component of the National Skill Development Policy, and has
an ambitious agenda, to benchmark wage placement-linked skill programmes to global standards
and requirements. The ultimate aim is to convert India’s demographic surplus into a
demographic dividend by developing rural India into a globally preferred source of skilled
labour. As a result, the scheme will also benefit more than 55 million poor rural youth who are
ready-to-be skilled, by providing sustainable employment. In this way the scheme is expected to
play a crucial role in generational poverty alleviation. The scheme is a pioneer in standards-led
delivery of skilling, the first to notify standard operating procedures for training, and the first to
introduce IT solutions for skilling, including mandatory tablets for trainees, Aadhar-linked
biometric information on attendance, and geo-tagged time-stamped record of training centres and
classes. DDU-GKY has its roots in the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY). SGSY
was formed by the restructuring of the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) in
1999, with a 15 per cent allocation for special projects. In 2010, SGSY was restructured as the
National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), also known as Aajeevika. The Ministry revised
the guidelines in 2013 as Aajeevika Skills with a view to increase the reach of the programme.
On Antyodaya Diwas, 25th September 2014, Aajeevika Skills was announced as DDU-GKY
with a focus on providing opportunities through skilling for rural poor youth in domestic and
global jobs.
Key Features
DDU-GKY follows a 3-tier implementation architecture in PPP mode, with the National
Unit responsible for policy, central investments and technical support, SRLMs/State Skills
Missions responsible for state investments, implementation and monitoring controls, and Project
Implementing Agencies (PIAs), both public and private training partners with a legacy in skill
training, responsible for mobilization, training and placements: (i) The focus of this programmes
is on the rural youth from poor families, in the age group of 15 to 35 years, belonging to: a)
MGNREGA worker household in which household members have together completed 15 days of
work; b) RSBY household; c) Antyodaya Anna Yojana card household; d) BPL PDS card
households; e) NRLM-SHG household; f) Household covered under auto inclusion parameters of
SECC 2011. (ii) Full social inclusion of candidates is ensured by the mandatory coverage of
socially disadvantaged groups— 50 per cent allocation to SC/ST groups, 15 per cent to
minorities, 33 per cent for women and 3 per cent for persons with disabilities. (iii) Placement in
wage employment is mandated for a minimum of 70 per cent of all successful candidates, with a
minimum salary of ₹ 6,000/- per month or the minimum wages, whichever is higher. (iv) The
programme promotes the economic strategies—Make In India, through proactive partnership
with industry through multi-pronged engagement— champion employer policy, captive
employer policy and industrial internship policy.
Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) was launched in 2014 with the aim to develop one
village by each Member of Parliament as a model village by 2016 and two more by 2019. The
goal of Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) is to translate the comprehensive and organic
vision of Mahatma Gandhi into reality, keeping in view the present context. SAGY lays
emphasis on inspiring values of national pride, patriotism, unity, self-confidence to be as
important as developing infrastructure. In other words, SAGY attempts to develop the value