SRINAGAR: More than 4.07 lakh candidates from Jammu and Kashmir have been trained or enrolled under four major skill development schemes since 2019, according to data presented by the Union Government in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The figures show that 3,32,724 candidates in JK were trained under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) between 2019-20 and 2026-27, with the latest year’s figure covering the period up to June 30, 2026.
Besides PMKVY, 13,876 candidates were trained under the Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) scheme, 5,702 apprentices were engaged under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), and 54,910 candidates were enrolled under the Craftsman Training Scheme (CTS) from 2019-20 onwards, taking the combined figure to 4,07,212.
The data was furnished by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary in reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3504 concerning the assessment of skill development initiatives.
Under PMKVY, JK recorded its highest annual training figure of 1,22,659 candidates in 2019-20. This was followed by 85,557 in 2024-25, 58,927 in 2020-21, 28,895 in 2023-24, 21,339 in 2021-22, 7,352 in 2022-23, 4,689 in 2025-26 and 3,306 during 2026-27 up to June 30.
Under JSS, the number of candidates trained stood at 3,429 in 2019-20 and 3,554 in 2020-21 before falling to 2,396 in 2021-22 and 500 in 2022-23. It subsequently rose to 1,020 in 2023-24, 680 in 2024-25 and 2,297 in 2025-26. No candidate was recorded for JK under the scheme during 2026-27 up to June 30.
Apprenticeship engagement under NAPS rose from 305 in 2019-20 to 1,230 in 2025-26, while 201 apprentices had been engaged during 2026-27 up to June 30. The annual figures for JK were 260 in 2020-21, 832 in 2021-22, 989 in 2022-23, 859 in 2023-24 and 1,026 in 2024-25.
The CTS, implemented through Industrial Training Institutes, recorded a comparatively steady rise in JK enrolment, from 4,396 candidates in 2019-20 to 10,047 in 2025-26. Enrolment stood at 7,545 in 2020-21, 8,062 in 2021-22, 8,130 in 2022-23, 8,504 in 2023-24 and 8,226 in 2024-25.
The Union Government, however, clarified that placement data was tracked only under the Short-Term Training component of PMKVY 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0, implemented between 2015-16 and 2021-22. The reply did not provide a JK-specific placement figure for the four schemes for the period covered by the latest training data.
The Government said PMKVY 4.0 focuses on enabling trained candidates to pursue different career paths through industry-relevant courses, including orientation and on-the-job training.
It said the effectiveness of skill development initiatives is assessed through periodic reviews, MIS-based monitoring, third-party assessments and beneficiary feedback, covering enrolment, certification, employment, self-employment and employer feedback.
An independent third-party evaluation of PMKVY 4.0 by the Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management found that the combined share of Short-Term Training respondents who were employed or self-employed increased from 26.6 per cent before training to 45.4 per cent after training, an increase of 18.8 percentage points.
The evaluation also found that 41.4 per cent of Short-Term Training candidates and 48.9 per cent of Recognition of Prior Learning candidates reported an increase in income following training and certification.
The Government said it does not maintain a uniform placement and employment-retention dataset covering all the skill development schemes. Instead, programme-specific evaluations and monitoring mechanisms are used to assess outcomes and improve implementation.This version keeps the JK figures at the forefront, avoids overstating placement outcomes, and distinguishes clearly between candidates trained, apprentices engaged and CTS enrolments.
