Rethinking skill training in Northeast

Rapid spread of digital technology and industries adopting artificial intelligence (AI) to automate pro- duction activities; the skill landscape has undergone drastic change across the globe, including India. This reality is a wake-up call to assess if India’s umbrella skilling initiative – the Skill India Programme – has been aligned with the fast-changing skill landscape to help the country’s youth acquire the new and future skills. For the Northeastern states, which are struggling to catch up with industrially advanced states, youth from the region acquiring industry-relevant skills is pivotal to ending decades-long disparity. Despite the central government prioritizing industrialization and development in the region, statistics related to skilling youth from Northeastern states present a gloomy picture. Bridging the gap between skills acquired by youth from the region and skills demanded by industries, both within and outside, is critical to aligning the regional skills with global workforce demand. The observation by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development on skilling initiatives in the region, however, presents a gloomy picture. The Committee observed that apprenticeship engagement in the NER under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme stood at less than 1% of the national total – despite a special pilot programme launched in 2025 providing an additional stipend of Rs.1,500 per month targeting 26,000 candidates in the region. As the objective is a seamless transition from education to employment through industry-specific training, it has high relevance for the youth of the region who migrate in large numbers to other regions for greener pastures. The government says that apprenticeships are encouraged in manufacturing and emerging areas such as AI, robotics, blockchain, green energy and industry. However, top-performing job roles under apprentice training programmes in the region were Customer Care Executive-Domestic-Voice, which focuses on customers within India with proficiency in the regional languages, Hindi and English; Packing Machine Worker-Food Processing; Fitter; Electrician; Mechanic Diesel; Retail Sales Assistant; Retail Trainee Associate; Sewing Machine Operator; Office Assistant; and Welder (Gas and Electric). The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship apprises the parliamentary panel that apprenticeship training is largely orientated towards youth entering the labour market, and as per the Apprentices Act, 1961, a person who is 14 years of age and satisfies such standards of education and physical fitness as prescribed for a trade can undergo apprenticeship training. Official data shows that a total of 52.86 lakh apprentices have been engaged in the country from 2016 to 15th February 2026. During 2025-26, against a target of 13 lakh, 10.8 lakh apprentices were engaged, which reflects an achievement of 83 per cent. The figures speak volumes about the persistent skill gap between youth from the region and the rest of India. The Ministry’s explanation about this widening gap is that apprenticeship engagement in the region is influenced by factors such as the limited industrial base, a smaller number of establishments with the capacity to host apprentices, and relatively lower awareness among employers and youth regarding apprenticeship opportunities. Besides, geographic dispersion, training infrastructure availability, and connectivity conditions also shape participation levels, it adds. Such explanations reflect a lack of innovative approaches to building the capacities of the Northeastern states to derive maximum benefits from the flagship schemes of skilling the country’s youth and equipping them with future-ready skills for increasing their employability. Addressing such persistent gaps is critical to ensure the region does not miss the bus when the country embarks on the new and fifth version of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) for the current financial year, which the Ministry is in the process of formulating. The scheme provides a national skills qualification framework that aligns short-term skill courses and recognition of prior learning through upskilling and reskilling for the age group of 15 to 59 years. Information furnished by the Ministry to the Committee highlights that the PMKVY 4.0 follows a demand-driven framework to ensure that training courses are aligned with local industrial requirements and evolving labour market needs. The identification and preparation of training courses involve a layered, evidence-based process integrating district, state, and national-level input. This is a flawed approach when it comes to industrially backward states in the Northeast region, as the assessment of skills required will always be influenced by the existing industrial ecosystem and industrial skill landscape. Ironically, PMKVY 4.0 introduced over 600 courses in AI, 5G, cybersecurity, drones, green hydrogen, and other emerging sectors, but there is limited scope for imparting these skills due to poor industrialisation in these sectors in the region. Without acquiring such emerging skills, youths migrating from the region to industrially advanced states will not be able to find better employment opportunities and will have to continue in unskilled work, as some of the skills they may have acquired in the region have low demand or have already become saturated or obsolete. Such ground realities call for rethinking skill training in the region.