DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2018.v06i01.023

Pages: 135-141

In successive Five Year Plans and public expenditure programmes in India, rural employment creation was given due importance. Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), the pioneering scheme in this area, has been succeeded by a number of allied programmes over the years. Realizing the same and in order to boost the economy, the upcoming working population should have quality education and appropriate skills. The Government of India caters to several initiatives in order to equip the workforce of our country. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana is such of a kind scheme, which was implemented on 25th September 2014. DDU-GKY has its origins in the ‘Aajeevika Skills’ programme of NRLM and the ‘Special Projects’ component of SGSY. The study is based on literature review and secondary data. The first part of the paper is regarding the scheme, DDU-GKY; and its significant role in promoting inclusive financial growth through various skill training and development programmes. In the later part, the paper looks into the progress of the scheme in Kerala. The study attempts to understand the progress of this scheme using secondary data, and has included the official data supplied by the state implementing agency, viz., “Kudumbasree”, in Kerala. The study analyses the performance of DDU-GKY for two years, since its inception, in relation to the information regarding the Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) in the state.