The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India launched the Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) programme on January 19, 2018.
It is a World Bank loan assisted project and aligned with the overall objectives of the National Skill Development Mission (NSDM). The project focuses on transforming the overall skilling ecosystem of India, covering both central and state-level agencies for improved outcomes.
SANKALP aims to improve short-term skill development planning and implementation by employing decentralisation as a strategy, monitoring skilling activities, and promoting convergence.
SANKALP also encourages innovative best practices at the local level, resulting in enhanced access, quality and capacity in the skilling ecosystem and improved access to and completion of skills training for female trainees and other disadvantaged groups.
Some of the key initiatives under SANKALP are mentioned below:
1. Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) Programme
As part of SANKALP, MGNF is a two-year academic programme that combines classroom sessions at IIMs with an intensive field immersion at the district level to strengthen the District Skill Committees (DSCs) for skill planning and management.
In phase-I, 69 fellows have been deputed in identified 69 districts across six states. With the successful launch of the pilot project (MGNF-I) in six states and based on its learnings, the national rollout of MGNF programme was launched to cover the remaining districts in the country.
MSDE has launched the Phase-II of MGNF programme with 9 IIMs — IIM Bangalore, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Visakhapatnam, IIM-Udaipur, IIM Nagpur, IIM Ranchi and IIM-Jammu as Academic Partners
2. Engagement with Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR)
MSDE has partnered with MoPR to integrate skill development planning in the Gram Panchayats (GPs).
An MoU between MSDE and Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) for ‘Skill Development Planning at Gram Panchayat’ signed on July 24, 2020.
3. Awards for Excellence in District Skill Development Planning (DSDP Awards)
These awards were instituted under SANKALP in June 2018 to recognise the efforts in creating functional and innovative DSDPs by District Administration.
In year-1 of DSDP awards, 223 districts participated. In the second year, 450 + districts have submitted their DSDPs.
MSDE has onboarded IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur as evaluation partners for the coming two years.
4. Capacity building initiatives at states and districts
Theme-based workshops are being organised by MSDE to build the capacity of state and district levels.
In a first of its kind partnership between SANKALP and Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), capacity building programmes will be conducted for State and District officials in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Lakshadweep by KILA.
[“source=indiatoday”]
