New Delhi [India], July 29 (ANI): The Centre has undertaken several initiatives under the Skill India initiative to bridge the country's talent gap. Over 5 lakh candidates have been trained across multiple states and Union Territories in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 4.0 up to June 30, 2026, the government informed Parliament.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Jayant Chaudhary, said in a response to the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, the number of candidates trained under Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS)/Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) reached 1,03,483 during 2019 to 2026.

During 2026-27, the number of candidates trained across multiple states and Union Territories in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 4.0 reached 31,408 (up to June 30, 2026). The data further showed that, in total, 5,44,383 candidates were trained under PMKVY 4.0 from 2023 to 30.06.2026.

'Directorate General of Training (DGT) under the aegis of MSDE is implementing Flexi MoU Scheme and Dual System of Training (DST) which are meant to provide training to ITI students in an industrial environment as per their requirements,' he said.

He highlighted that the government has launched PM-SETU (Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs) with an investment of Rs.60,000 crore.

Apart from this, the Directorate General of Training (DGT) has signed MoUs with IT Tech companies including IBM, CISCO, Microsoft and AWS to ensure industry linkages for the institutes at the state and regional levels, he noted.

'Under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), placements were tracked in the Short-Term Training (STT) component in the first three versions of the Scheme - PMKVY 1.0, PMKVY 2.0 and PMKVY 3.0, implemented from FY2015-16 to FY 2021-22, wherein a total of 1.11 Crore candidates were certified, out of which 24.38 lakhs were reported placed under the STT component of the scheme,' he said.

Further, under PMKVY 4.0, the focus is to empower the trained candidates to choose their varied career paths, and they are suitably oriented for the same. (ANI)