PM-DAKSH Subsumed Under PMKVY After Training 1,87,305

PM-DAKSH, short for Pradhan Mantri Dakshata Aur Kushalta Sampann Hitgrahi, was a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. It began in 2020-21 and offered skill training to young people of the Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes, the Economically Weaker Sections, De-notified Tribes (DNTs) and Safai Karamcharis, waste pickers among them, so that they could take up wage work or start out on their own. A factual note on the scheme was put out on 22 October 2026.

Who ran the scheme

The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment trained nobody itself. Three of its corporations carried the work: the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC), the National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation (NBCFDC) and the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC). The department sent money to these three, and they paid the training cost back to institutes already on the panel of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), run by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. The same corporations also lend to eligible youth of the target groups and hold their hand while a project is set up.

The placement condition

An institute had to place at least 70 per cent of the candidates it trained, in a job or in self-employment. Fall short, and the third instalment of its payment, worth 30 per cent of the training cost, was forfeited. Institutes were also expected to keep working ties with industry so that those who finished a course had somewhere to go.

Money, trainees and jobs

An evaluation of the scheme reported strong relevance and learning effectiveness. More than 90 per cent of those trained said the course matched their career goals, the needs of the labour market near them and the learning it had promised. The study also recorded gains that do not show in money, such as confidence, self-esteem and social recognition, strongest among women and marginalised groups, and found that most beneficiaries went on using the skills and expected their income to keep rising.

Why it was merged

From 2024-25 the scheme was folded into PMKVY. The reason given is duplication. PM-DAKSH was an additionality to PMKVY, and the job roles it trained for were all drawn from the Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH) portal, which PMKVY also draws on. Rather than run two schemes over the same ground, PM-DAKSH was subsumed under PMKVY.