NEW DELHI: The Government today said it will eventually phase out the franchisee model due to poor compliance under its flagship skilling scheme PMKVY and offer a chance to all franchisees to become training providers.
“As per PMKVY (2016-20) guidelines, only first level franchising is allowed and the franchisee centres will be given lower priority. It is planned to gradually phase out franchisee agreements,” Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
According to numbers shared by Rudy, the top five states in terms of franchisee centres are Uttar Pradesh (399), Rajasthan (323), Haryana (143), Punjab (134) and Madhya Pradesh (118).
Several training partners and franchisees last month stormed into the office of the skill development ministry here, protesting against non-allocation of seats or skilling targets under the PMKVY scheme.
Senior officials spoke to had said the government had suspended further allocation under the skilling scheme PMKVY 2.0 in three states, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan, after finding irregularities like fraudulent enrolment of ghost candidates by the franchisee skill centres.
“In the course of implementation of the scheme, it was found that franchisee centres comprised around 50 per cent of the centres under the scheme,” Rudy said in his reply to the Rajya Sabha. “During monitoring visits, it was observed that the compliance with scheme guidelines was significantly lower in case of franchisee centres as compared to training provider owned centres.”
He added that the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has therefore decided to provide a pathway for all franchisees to become training providers, thus converting franchisee centres under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) into training provider owned centres.
“Further, no new franchising centre will be allowed under the scheme,” said Rudy.
The National Skill Development Corporation has been tasked with implementing the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana. (AGENCIES)
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