DDU-GKY 2.0: India's Upgraded Rural Skilling Scheme Moves Focus to Sustainable Employment

Key facts

• Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) was originally launched on September 25, 2014, under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission as a placement-linked skilling programme for rural youth from poor households.
• The upgraded DDU-GKY 2.0 framework was notified in May 2025, emphasising employment retention, post-placement support, career progression, migration assistance and technology-enabled monitoring.
• DDU-GKY is implemented across 31 States and Union Territories with 749 approved projects, over 760 active training centres and more than 455 Project Implementing Agencies.
• Since 2014-15, over 18.47 lakh candidates have been trained in more than 800 job roles across all 36 sectors, with over 12.43 lakh placed; more than 9.71 lakh women trained and over 6.34 lakh women placed.
• The Union Budget 2026-27 has allocated ₹750 crore to DDU-GKY.
• DDU-GKY targets rural youth aged 15 to 35 years from poor households, with mandated coverage of 50 per cent SC/ST candidates, 33 per cent women and 5 per cent persons with disabilities.
• DDU-GKY 2.0 retains the 576-hour minimum training requirement, with a mandatory non-domain component of 180 hours.
• The minimum placement duration has been extended from three months to six months, covering continuous and non-continuous employment including wage, self and gig employment.
• Placed candidates receive ₹7,620 as post-placement financial assistance at ₹1,270 per month for six months, plus retention support of ₹5,000 for those employed for 365 days with a maximum employment break of 60 days.
• Job Melas organised by State Rural Livelihoods Missions receive funding of up to ₹50,000 per Gram Panchayat-level fair and ₹1 lakh per block-level fair, subject to placement of 100 and 200 candidates respectively.
• Migration Support Centres' annual funding has been increased from ₹10 lakh to ₹30 lakh under the revised framework.
• The Roshni initiative covers Left-Wing Extremism-affected districts with mandatory residential training and 40 per cent women coverage, while Himayat is a 100 per cent centrally funded programme for Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh covering both rural and urban youth.
• Early rollout of DDU-GKY 2.0 saw Goa as a pioneer in creating batches, Andhra Pradesh commencing training for over 12,000 candidates within three months, and Jammu & Kashmir allocating 100 per cent of targets with training commenced for 91 per cent.
• Rural Self-Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs), operational as 647 institutes across 634 districts in 33 States and Union Territories, have trained 63.47 lakh candidates, of whom 45.60 lakh have been settled.
• RSETIs provide free residential training to unemployed rural youth aged 18 to 50 years, with around 94 per cent of those settled establishing sustainable self-employment ventures.
• India's youth population is projected to reach nearly 345 million by 2036.