The government will widen the scope of Skill India mission to enable multi-skilling of youth, a move aimed at enhancing their employability. So far, skills training was imparted in a single skill or under one job role.

The National Council of Vocational Education and Training, under the skills development ministry, will soon set up a standing committee to decide on the entry level qualification, cognitive ability required and level of the qualifications needed for skilling across different job roles, a senior government official told ET.

“The committee constituted will also vet the training delivery plan about how a single trainer can deliver the entire curriculum” the official added.

According to the official, the shift in strategy from providing single skill to multi skilling of aspirants is driven by the fact that new-age enterprising roles need cross sectoral skills to enable a person to perform efficiently and independently.

The government is of the view that multi-skilling can prove to be valuable for both employees and employers as it will lead to more job opportunities, better cognitive development, increased job security and growth. Further, even employers will be more satisfied as multi-skilling improves efficiency, reduces cost and enhances quality.

Multi-skilling is a combination of independent job roles which can be performed by an individual. “The benefits here include better return for the cost of hiring an individual, especially in the MSME sector, and increased scope of work per individual to drive economic operations.

To encourage multi-skilling, the assessment charges for the multi-skilling qualification will be the same as the common single skill qualifications and will be divided between the lead skill training provider and the supporting skill training provider in the ratio of the number of hours needed for transacting the curriculum of each.

The lead skills training provider will, however, be responsible to manage the overall admission, training delivery, assessment and certification process of such candidates opting for multi-skilling.

Around 1.4 crore candidates have been trained under the government’s flagship skilling scheme the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) since 2015.