New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced an expenditure of Rs 1.48 lakh crore for education, employment and skills and said that skill is one of the four major items for this year’s budget.
The finance minister has prepared a new plan with the cooperation of the state government and the industry to train 20 lakh young women within 5 years. For this, 1000 ITIs will be upgraded in hub and spoke system.
About 25,000 students will be benefited every year through the amendment to the Model Skill Loan Scheme. Which will provide loans up to 7.5 lakh rupees with guarantee from the funds promoted by the government. Students can get financial assistance for higher education in private educational institutions for loans up to 10 lakh rupees. For this, 1 lakh students will get direct e-vouchers and 3 percent interest discount on the annual loan amount.
Sahil Gupta, partner, Deloitte India, said, “Education and skills loan will bring more student into education, thereby increasing the overall enrollment ratio – a step toward achieving the target of 50 per cent by 2035. Second, it will prepare youth with relevant skills for industry needs and increase the productive workforce needs of today and tomorrow.
Focus on internships
This year’s speech focus on internships for youth. The Finance Minister said that the government has planned to help 1 crore youth to be skill by India’s top companies within 5 years. The government will provide these interns with a stipend of Rs 5,000 per month for 12 months, which is applicable to those who are not full-time studentsand those who are not yet employed. Youth between the age of 21 to 24 years can apply.
For the internship, the government will allocate a grant of Rs. 54,000 as monthly allowance and Rs. 6,000 as ancillary allowance. The company can allocate Rs 6,000 as monthly allowance from CSR fund; Training expenses will be borne by the company.
Application will be made through online portal and participation of companies is voluntary. Companies can select candidates based on objective criteria with an emphasis on people with low employability.
