A major theme in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget 2024 speech was education and skilling, focussed on the youth
An interesting focus in this year’s speech was on internships for the youth. Image: Shutterstock
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated Rs 1.48 lakh crore towards education, employment and skilling, stating that one of the four major themes for this year’s Budget was skilling.
The finance minister outlined a new scheme in collaboration with state governments and industry, for 20 lakh youth to be skilled over a five-year period. For this, 1,000 ITIs (Industrial Training Institutes) will be upgraded in hub-and-spoke arrangements, with a focus on outcome-orientation, and course content and design aligned with industry needs as new courses will be introduced for emerging needs.
About 25,000 students every year will benefit from a revision in the Model Skill Loan Scheme, which will facilitate loans of up to Rs7.5 lakh, with a guarantee from a government-promoted fund. For higher education in domestic institutes, students can receive financial support for loans up to Rs 10 lakh. One lakh students will receive direct e-vouchers for this, with annual interest subvention of 3 percent of the loan amount.
“Education and skilling loans will bring more students to the education fold, thereby increasing the gross enrollment ratio—a move towards achieving the 50 percent target by 2035,” says Sahil Gupta, partner, Deloitte India. “Second, it will prepare youth with skills relevant for industry needs, adding to the productive workforce needs of today and tomorrow.”
An interesting focus in this year’s speech was on internships for the youth. The finance minister said the government plans to assist 1 crore youth to be skilled by India’s top companies over five years. For 12 months, the government will provide these interns a monthly allowance of Rs 5,000, which is applicable to those who are not full-time students, and those who are not yet employed.