Lok Sabha Question No. 3433 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-15
Subject: Grading of Skill Development Centres
Ministry: SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Asked by: Chandra Sekhar Sahu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3433 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.07.2019

## GRADING OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT CENTRES

## 3433.  SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU:

## Will  the  Minister  of  SKILL  DEVELOPMENT  and  ENTREPRENEURSHIP  be pleased to state :

- (a) whether the Government has started grading of Skill Development Centres set up for implementation of Pradhan Mantri Skill Development Programme;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the criteria fixed for grading of such centres;
- (c) whether a large number of franchisees are affected after implementation of grading system;
- (d) if  so,  the  details  and  the number of such franchise centres affected so far, Statewise;
- (e) whether the Government provides any assistance to these centres;
- (f) if so, the details and the criteria fixed for such assistance;
- (g) whether these centres are allowed to collect any charges from the students enrolled with them; and
- (h) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  the  details  of  centres  found  violating  norms, State-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP (SHRI R. K. SINGH)

(a) to (f) Under  PMKVY 2016-20, training is  being  imparted  through  accredited  and affiliated  training  providers  /  training  centres  (TPs/TCs).  The  entire  accreditation  and affiliation  of  TCs/TPs  is  done  through  an  online  portal,  SMART  (Skill  Management  and Accreditation  of  Training  Centre)  with  inspection  done  by  an  independent  third  party assessment agencies. Accreditation and Affiliation Framework, Guidelines and the Portal for entire Skill Eco-system including PMKVY 2016-20 was released on 2 nd October 2016.

The centres are graded on the basis of multiple parameters such as centre area, trainer  qualifications,  availability  of  equipments  and  other  facilities  at  the  centre.  The Grading  Methodology  defines  a  set  of  indicators  and  classifies  them  into  specific categories.  The  indicators  within  each  category  have  appropriate  weights  assigned  to them, forming  a  Grading  Metrics.  The  total  score  for  each  category  is  100.  The  overall performance of a Training Centre (TC) is being measured by assigning the scores. The corresponding scores are then converted into grades (represented by a Star rating). Based on  band/range  of  the  total  percentage  as  per  the  scores  computed,  the  TCs  are  being graded as 1 to 5 Stars where 5 Star denotes the highest grade, and 1 Star the lowest.

Under PMKVY 2016-20, initially the TCs were either  owned by Training Provider (TP)  or  franchises.  The  centers  were  allocated  targets  upon  successfully  meeting  the criteria defined in the Grading Metrics. More than 2500 franchise centers were operational till  August 2017. However, to improve the quality outputs of the scheme, the decision of phasing out franchise centers  was  taken in  August  2017. The  scheme  made necessary modifications  to  enable  erstwhile  franchise  TCs  to  convert  into  TPs  via  multiple  efforts undertaken  by  National  Skill  Development  Corporation  (NSDC)  and  Ministry  of  Skill Development and Entrepreneurship such as set up of call centre, handholding workshops, developed user manuals, checklist for physical inspection. Out of these franchise centers, 90% of centers have successfully applied for conversion to TP owned.

(g) and (h) Under PMKVY 16-20, TCs/TPs are not permitted to collect any charges from the enrolled candidates  and this is being monitored or checked  through  various mechanisms  like  call  validation  of  the  candidates  at  the  time  of  enrollment,  Out-Bound dialling to make automatic voice call directly to the candidate and surprise visits of the TCs by  the  monitoring  team.  Apart  from  this,  social  media  platform  and  mobile  based applications are being used to make direct communications with the candidates.

Under  the  scheme,  a  PMKVY  Monitoring  Committee  has  been  constituted  to monitor  and  review  the  empanelled  TCs  and  impose  penalties  as  per  the  penalty  grid provisions in the case  of violation of norms/guidelines. Apart from  that, Steering Committee,  Executive  Committee,  Accreditation  Committee,  Screening  Committee,  etc. also review and monitor the TCs as per extant provisions of the scheme.

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