Budget 2019: Govt announces increase in allocation to Ministry of Skill Development

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 5 announced an increase in the budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

The ministry data suggests that the government has allocated Rs 2,989 crore to the department for 2019-20, compared to the revised estimate of Rs 2,820 crore in the last fiscal. It had, however, planned for Rs 3,400 crore in the last fiscal, meaning the ministry eventually spent roughly Rs 600 crore less than was allocated to it.

The government is looking to formulate a National Policy for Reskilling and Upskilling for creating industry responsive workforce.

According to the ministry data, the allocation to the department was Rs 3,400 crore (budget estimate) in 2018-19.

This was a cut implemented by the finance ministry against the Rs 7,696 crore requested by the department due to underutilization of funds allocated in the previous years.

The development happens at a time when around 2.5 lakh new jobs are expected to be created in the IT sector through a comprehensive skill development programme.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in its election manifesto, Sankalp Patra, promised to strengthen the role of Atal Innovation Centres for skill training and innovation challenges.

The budget allocation for the skill development projects in the last five years has witnessed considerable growth, but the job uptake has not matched with the same.