Skill India launches programme to upskill street food vendors

• Ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship (MSDE) will impart skills training to the street food vendors and make them eligible for e-cart licenses while improving the hygiene conditions in food preparation and aesthetics of vending.
• In the pilot project, launched for 2500 street vendors, aged between 23 years and 55 years training will be imparted under the recognition of prior learning (RPL) component of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 3.0.

Objective of Project

• The objective of this programme is to provide relevant skills to the street food vendors which will lead towards better services to consumers, more opportunities to vendors for revenue generation, awareness on regulations and stipulated rules and better services to the local bodies.
• The project will be implemented by the tourism and hospitality sector skill council (THSSC) and training partners of NSDC.
• Under the initiative, the street food vendors will be educated on health and safety standards, safety provisions under COVID-19 protocols, effective communication techniques with staff and customers, new-age skills such as digital literacy, financial literacy, digital payments and e-selling.
• The vendors will also be supported with loans under the Mudra Scheme.
• MSDE, , NSDC and THSSC will provide necessary knowledge and skills to the Street Food Vendors through this programme to increase productivity and enhance their livelihoods.

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

• The first version of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) scheme was launched in 2015 to encourage and promote skill development in the country by providing free short duration skill training and incentivising this by providing monetary rewards to youth for skill certification.
• The overall idea was to boost employability of youth corresponding to the industrial demand.
• After the successful implementation of PMKVY (2015-16) and learnings from the past, PMKVY 2.0 (2016-20) was launched by scaling up sectors, geographies and by greater alignment with other missions/programmes of government of India such as ‘Make in India’, ‘Digital India’ and ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’.

PMKVY 3.0

• The ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship under Skill India Mission launched the third phase of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY 3.0) on January 15, 2021 to train eight lakh people across the country with an outlay of Rs 948.90 crore.
• The basic premise for the scheme is to create a skilled and certified workforce, who not only contribute towards the growth of India but also drive the country into becoming the global skills capital.