Government registered 41 FIRs under PMKVY

According to information shared by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in Parliament on March 11, the government has filed 41 First Information Reports (FIRs) against Skill India training centers following inspections under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development Jayant Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha that the government has identified 167 cases for filing FIRs, of which 41 have been registered so far against Skill India Centers violating program norms.

Skill India Centers are government-approved training centers established under PMKVY – the Centre’s flagship program to provide industry-aligned skill training and certification to youth. These centres, which offer short-term courses in all fields, are run by empaneled training partners under the scheme, which may include private training companies, educational institutions, industry bodies and non-profit organizations under the supervision of the ministry.

The action follows concerns raised in a performance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), which flagged deficiencies in the earlier phases of PMKVY related to data verification, beneficiary details, assessor information and monitoring processes.

MSDE has set up Skill Review Centers (KSK) under PMKVY 4.0 as independent monitoring units for the training centres. KSKs conduct both virtual and physical inspections of Skill India Centers to assess parameters such as infrastructure, candidate attendance, presence of trainers and availability of equipment.

The ministry in its response said that so far 3,695 centers have been virtually monitored across the country and 2,393 centers have been physically inspected.

The review found 383 centers non-compliant, with irregularities such as mismatches in attendance records, centers found closed during inspection, absence of trainers or trainees and lack of necessary tools and equipment.

“The actions initiated include suspension, withholding of payments, show cause notices, cancellation of recognition and affiliation, blacklisting, recovery of payments and registration of FIRs,” the ministry said.

Based on these findings, the government has blacklisted 178 training partners or centers and started recovery of payments.

The case of Neelima Moving Pictures was also cited in the CAG’s performance audit, which said the proprietary business agency – which is said to be not registered with the Registrar of Companies – had provided skill certificates to 33,493 participants through the Media and Entertainment Skills Council.

Referring to the matter in its reply in the Rajya Sabha, the government said that show cause notices have been issued to both Neelima Moving Pictures and MESC.

The ministry said it has taken note of the findings and introduced strict monitoring measures under PMKVY 4.0, including Aadhaar-based e-KYC, face authentication and geo-tagged attendance, QR-coded digital certificates and real-time dashboard on the Skill India Digital Hub.