The ambitious scheme to upskill the youths of the country to make them employable for as per the demand of the industry – the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is now under scanner after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on Thursday flagged massive irregularities in the implementation of the scheme on mass level.
Multiple people with same account number, individuals with multiple account numbers, common accounts, same photograph and much more, an Indian Express report said. According to it, the payouts for the scheme are also pending for more than 34 lakh candidates and even closed training centres.
The irregularities are flagged in the report tabled in parliamentmentions shocking findings about the scheme, that was implemented in three phases from 2015-2022.
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Bank account numbers raise eyebrows
In its audit report, the CAG said the scheme which was meant to tackle joblessness in the country was launched in July 2015. Its three phases between 2015 and 2022, the government released a funding of Rs 14,450 crore with a combined target of providing skill training and certifications to 1.32 crore candidates.
First phase 2015-16
Second during 2016-20,
Third phase was during 2021-22.
The biggest anomalies were in bank account numbers that were detailed on the Skill India Portal (SIP). The report said the analysis of data related to PMKVY 2.0 and 3.0 revealed that ‘bank Accountdetails’ field contained zeros, ‘Null’, ‘N/A’ or was blank in case of 90,66,264 of total 95,90,801 participants i.e., for 94.53 per cent of the cases, reported Indian Express.
In the remaining cases, 5,24,537 candidates, 12,122 unique bank account numbers were repeated for 52,381 participants in two or more cases.
In the case where single account was used for one candidate, instances of account numbers like ‘11111111111…’, ‘123456…’, single digit account numbers, or just text, names, address, or special characters, etc, were found. The audit could not prove the authenticity of the identity of participants of the scheme.
The report also detailed the ministry’s explanation in May 2023 “that initially account details was a mandatory field on SIP, but it was made non-mandatory later due to problems at ground level implementation”.
“(The) Ministry further added that the disbursement to candidates was to be done on the basis of Aadhaarseeding which supports pay-outs directly into their Aadhaar linked bank account and eliminates the need to collect bank account number,” the CAG said.
CAG flags multiple errors
The CAG report further stressed that the errors in the details led to hold of pay-outs for over 34 lakh certified candidates, which is still pending, the report mentioned. For further checks, the CAG did the online beneficiary survey and found “a high email delivery failure rate of 36.51 per cent (1,581 emails) and in cases where the email was delivered, there was response from only 3.95 per cent (171 candidates)”.
Interestingly, in the 171 cases where the CAG did receive a response, 131 belonged to the same email ID were the IDs of training partners and centres.
The audit found that several centres were already shut. Photographic errors were also found in the audit, where same photos were used for a number of beneficiaries in different states like UP, Bihar, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
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“PMKVY lacked a structured system for identifying, onboarding, and verifying targeted beneficiaries (unemployed
youth, school/college dropouts). There was no data retention policy to record electronic identities/contact details of trainers, assessors, and beneficiaries, weakening IT controls,” the 108-page CAG report said.
What Government said
Earlier in 2023, the government had said that during the initial phases of the scheme, account details was a mandatory field on SIP, but it was made non-mandatory later due to problems at ground level implementation.
“(The) Ministry further added that the disbursement to candidates was to be done on the basis of Aadhaar seeding which supports pay-outs directly into their Aadhaar linked bank account and eliminates the need to collect bank account number,” the CAG said.
While responding to The Indian Express for comment on the findings, the government said in a statement that it has “significantly strengthened” the scheme, “drawing on past learning and implementation experience to institute strong corrective measures and deepen accountability”.
“The scheme now operates with technology-enabled monitoring, Aadhaar-authenticated e-KYC, enhanced regulatory oversight, and the Skill India Digital Hub to enable unified data, transparency, and effective beneficiary tracking,” the government said.
From face-authentication to geo-tagged attendance, the Centre said a live attendance dashboard has been operationalised; and Central Communication Layer (CCL)–based candidate feedback mechanisms are being used for ongoing course correction. |
