Upskilling of Street Vendors

• 01 Dec 2021

Why in News

Recently, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) announced a pilot project to train 2,500 street food vendors in Delhi under the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) component of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 3.0.

Key Points

• About:
  
  • The project will be implemented by the Tourism and Hospitality Sector Skill Council (THSSC) and training partners of NSDC.
  • The registered street food vendors will go through four-five days of counselling sessions where they will get clarity on their competencies, aptitude, interests, opportunities, and structure of the itinerary.
  • The 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.
  • It will make vendors eligible for e-cart licenses, make them learn to improve the hygiene conditions in food preparation and aesthetics of vending. They will be given Rs 500 per day for four days of training.
• Objective:
  
  • The objective is to impart relevant skills to street food vendors, which can lead to better services for consumers, more opportunities for revenue generation and awareness on civic regulations.
• Significance:
  
  • India has around 5.5 million street food vendors who contribute around 14% to the informal economy, making their upskilling vital for the economy.
  • It will surely help in lifting the working and living conditions of the workforce.
  • It will provide social security and safety to 4,000 vendors in east Delhi and 25 lakh street vendors nationally..
• Other Schemes related to Food vendors:
  
  • PM SVANidhi Scheme
  • Main Bhi Digital (me too digital)
  • The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.
  • Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana.
  • Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana.

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

• About:
  
  • PMKVY was launched in 2015 under Skill India Mission.
  • It aims to train over 40 crore people in India in different skills by 2022.
  • It aims at vocational training and certification of Indian youth for a better livelihood and respect in the society.
• PMKVY-1.0:
  
  • Launched on 15^th July, 2015 (World Youth Skills Day) to encourage and promote skill development in the country by providing free short duration skill training, Special Projects, Recognition of Prior Learning, Kaushal & Rozgar Mela, etc.
• PMKVY 2.0 (2016-20):
  
  • Launched by scaling up both in terms of Sector and Geography and by greater alignment with other missions of the Government of India like Make in India, Digital India, Swachh Bharat, etc.
  • More than 1.2 Crore youth have been trained/oriented through an improved standardized skilling ecosystem in the country under PMKVY 1.0 and PMKVY 2.0.
• PMKVY 3.0:
  
  • Launched in January 2021, in 717 districts, 28 States/eight UTs, as a step towards ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’.
  • It envisages training of eight lakh candidates over a scheme period of 2020-2021 with an outlay of Rs. 948.90 crore.
  • The focus is on bridging the demand-supply gap by promoting skill development in areas of new-age and Industry 4.0 job roles.

RPL Programme

• It is being implemented by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
• It aims to promote decentralization and local governance for better planning and implementation of skill development programmes.
• It recognizes the value of learning acquired outside a formal setting and provides a government certificate for an individual’s skills.

Source: PIB