PM-YUVA Yojana (Pradhan Mantri Yuva Udyamita Vikas Abhiyan)

The Pradhan Mantri YUVA (Yuva Udyamita Vikas Abhiyan) Yojana [PM-YUVA Yojana] is a centrally sponsored scheme launched in 2016 to implement entrepreneurship education training to upcoming entrepreneurs and students.

The PM-YUVA Yojana is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. It aims to establish an enabling ecosystem for entrepreneurship development through entrepreneurship training, education and advocacy. 

The PM-YUVA Yojana also promotes social enterprises for inclusive growth and facilitates easy access to an entrepreneurship support network. It provides easy access to an entrepreneurship support network of over 14 lakh youth to initiate maximum start-ups over five years (2016-17 to 2020-21). 

Features of PM-YUVA Yojana

There are three essential features of the PM-YUVA Yojana that play an integral role in the successful subsistence of this scheme. The three features are as follows:

Entrepreneurship market 

Under this scheme, access and introduction to the entrepreneurship market are facilitated through the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC’s), faculty through in-class discussions and experiential learning like mock business training and internships.

Creating mentors 

This feature of the scheme includes establishing a national network consisting of a high quality-screened mentors/consultants through competent local entrepreneurs and existing networks.

Social entrepreneurship

Under this scheme, vocational training centres provide elective courses on social entrepreneurship to educate the younger generations on social interoperability and leverage their businesses.

Objectives of PM-YUVA Yojana

• Equip and educate early-stage and potential entrepreneurs
• Connecting entrepreneurs in enabling networks of mentors, peers, funding, incubators, and business services
• Support and coordinate entrepreneurs through Entrepreneurship Hubs (E-Hubs)
• Organise a culture shift to provide support to the aspiring entrepreneurs

Benefits of PM-YUVA Yojana

Under the PM-YUVA Yojana, the government provides vocational training and education to the emerging youth to set up many enterprises over a period of five years. It is estimated that the educational institutes under the PM-YUVA Yojana will train about five to seven lakh students. The training received by the students under this scheme helps them to gain practical experience before they are actually employed.

The economy of India has become unbalanced due to unemployment. Through the implementation of the PM-YUVA Yojana, it is expected that there would be a rise in the employment opportunities disclosed to the youth.

Eligible Beneficiaries Under PM-YUVA Yojana

The eligible beneficiaries who can avail the entrepreneurship training and education under this  scheme are as follows: 

• All the students, either pursuing or completed the following course:
  • Undergraduate courses 
  • Post-graduate courses
  • PhD program
  • Degree students
  • Diploma students
• Students studying or completed study from the Industrial Training Institutes (ITI’s)
• Students studying belonging to unorganised sectors in rural and urban areas
• Women and active entrepreneurs in rural and urban areas

Implementation of PM-YUVA Yojana 

The PM-YUVA Yojana is implemented in the following manner:

Educational Institutes 

The PM-YUVA Yojana provides entrepreneurship training and education across the country in the following select institutes for five years (2016-17 to 2020-21):

• Higher Secondary schools 
• Entrepreneurship Development Centers (EDCs)
• Industrial Training Centers (ITIs) 
• Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL), which includes Universities, Premier Institutes and Colleges 

The PM-YUVA Yojana enables around 300 schools, 500 ITIs, 2200 colleges and 50 Vocational Training Centres (VTCs) for providing entrepreneurship training and education to over seven lakh students.

Faculty orientation

A network of Entrepreneurship and Coordination Hubs (E-Hubs) supports the entrepreneur training and education. The E-Hubs consists of one National E-Hub, five regional E-Hubs and 50 nodal E-Hubs for organisation and resource management at different levels. The nodal E-Hubs select faculties to provide the training offered under the PM YUVA Yojana based on a predefined criterion. 

The facilitator training program consists of four sub-categories, namely, orientation program, faculty facilitator module, webinar and advanced facility program. After completing the training process, the facilitators are assessed online and are given a Certificate of Appreciation for successfully completing the course.

Assessment and certification

Periodic online or written examinations are conducted for monitoring the progress of the students undertaking the training. After the evaluation process, the National Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) gives a Certificate of Participation to the students.