Rural Employment and Skill Development of youth under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) Scheme

Abstract

In the present scenario, entire country is concerned about the employment generation propositions especially in the rural areas. The development of rural areas received more attention by the way of various schemes designed for the development of Indian economy. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) is such kind of a scheme, which was implemented on 25^th September 2014 to impart skill-based training to young men and women between the age group from 15 to 35 years, making them capable of earning and supporting the nation’s anti-poverty endeavors. Dhakuakhana is a sub divisional block of Lakhimpur district, Assam where the DDU-GKY scheme was implemented in 2016. The study is based on literature review, primary and secondary data. The first part of the paper is regarding the scheme, DDU-GKY; and its significant role in promoting skill training and developmental programmes. In the later part, the paper looks into the implementation of the scheme in Dhakuakhana Block of Lakhimpur District by using secondary data, and has included the official data supplied by the Block Project Officer of Dhakuakhana block. The study analyses the performance of DDU-GKY from 2016 to 2019 at entire Dhakuakhana block where more than 250 people enrolled in different kind of skill training programmes. The enrollments and placements of male were more than female and most of the youth belonged to OBC and ST category and none of them were from general category. Though Dhakuakhana block gives a good picture of implementation of the scheme, they are not up to the expectations; and there are rooms for further improvements.