The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy has said that the Scheme of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana (DDU-GKY) is being implemented by Ministry of Rural Development. The Government (Ministry of Rural Development) is undertaking a placement linked skill development program called Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) for rural poor youth. Important features of DDU-GKY, inter-alia, are as follows:

· Market-led, placement-linked training programme for rural youth.

· Mandatory assured placement to 75% of the trained candidates.

· Focus on rural youth from poor families in the age group of 15 to 35 years.

· Social inclusion of candidates through mandatory coverage of socially disadvantaged groups.

· Minimum Salary of Rs.6000 per month or minimum wages specified by a State Government, whichever is higher (after a three month training course).

· Post-placement support to candidates.

· Career progression support, job-retention support and foreign placement support for quality outcomes in placements.

· In allocation of skill projects, primacy given to Training Partners who can train and support overseas placement and captive placements.

He said, DDU-GKY is undertaken as PPP Project through Private and Public organizations registered with Ministry of Rural Development. DDU-GKY is a demand driven program. At present, an organization that is a registered legal entity in India can partner with DDU-GKY as a Project Implementing Agency (PIA).

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today the Minister said, as DDU-GKY aims skilling for rural poor youth to be aspirational and provide training benchmarked to global norms, as far as possible; the implementation strategy therefore enables the youth to access best of training and related facilities in locations where they are most suitably available and does not therefore make it necessary for the centres to be taken to the candidate, but rather the candidates are taken to training centers to ensure quality and better assimilation into mainstream labour markets. Total 51 training centers are active in Bihar.