The ministries of AYUSH and rural development inked a pact for developing skilled personnel for AYUSH healthcare system under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya-Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and generating employment for the rural youth and women.

As part of the MoU, both the ministries will collaborate in developing skilled personnel for AYUSH healthcare and management sectors.

Training will be provided to 22,000 youths in collaboration with the AYUSH ministry in courses — Panchakarma technician, Panchakarma assistant, Ayurvedic masseur, Kshara Karma technician, cupping therapy assistant on a pilot basis.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY)

• The ministry of rural development (MoRD) announced the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) on September 25, 2014. 

• DDU-GKY is a part of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), tasked with the dual objectives of adding diversity to the incomes of rural poor families and cater to the career aspirations of rural youth.

• It is a market-led, placement linked skill development programme for providing wage employment to rural poor youth.

• According to Census 2011, over 18 crore or 69 per cent of the country’s youth population between the ages of 18 and 34 years live in its rural areas. Of these, the bottom of the pyramid youth from poor families with no or marginal employment number about 5.5 crore.

• There are several challenges preventing India’s rural poor from competing in the modern market, such as the lack of formal education and marketable skills.

• DDU-GKY bridges this gap by funding training projects benchmarked to global standards. 

• It seeks to build the placement linked skills of the poor rural youth and place them in wage employment across various sectors of the economy. The programme has an outcome led design with guaranteed placements for at least 70 per cent trained candidates.

• DDU-GKY is uniquely focused on rural youth between the ages of 15 and 35 years from poor families. 

• As a part of the Skill India campaign, it plays an instrumental role in supporting the social and economic programs of the government like the Make In India, Digital India, Smart Cities and Startup India, Standup India campaigns. 

Implementation of the scheme

• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and projects are funded by central and state governments in the ratio of 60:40. In case of eight northeast states, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand the funding pattern is 90:10. 

• DDU-GKY guidelines provide for earmarking 50 per cent of the funds for SCs and STs and 15 per cent for minorities. Further, one third beneficiaries of the respective categories under the scheme should be women.

• DDU-GKY is being implemented in 27 states and three UTs, across 689 districts, impacting youth from over 7,426 blocks. 

• It currently has over 1,575 projects being implemented by over 871 partners, in more than 616 job roles from various industry sectors. 

• A total of 11.61 lakh candidates have been trained and 7.16 lakh placed till March 31, 2022 since its inception.

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