In an effort to give a single point focus to skill development initiative, government cleared a proposal to set up of a National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) subsuming other bodies engaged in this initiative.

The Union Cabinet, which met in New Delhi on Thursday, gave its nod to NSDA replacing the Prime Ministers National Council on Skill Development (PMNCSD), the National Skill Development Coordination Board (NSDCB) and the Office of the Adviser to the PM on Skill Development.

It will be located in the Ministry of Finance, said a government statement. The new skill body will coordinate and harmonise the skill development efforts of the government and the private sector to achieve the targets of the 12th Plan and beyond.

It will also anchor and operationalise the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) and be the nodal agency for sector skills councils and endeavour to bridge the social, regional, gender and economic divides in skilling.

Further, it will also be empowered to raise extra budgetary resources. The central ministries and NSDC will continue to implement schemes in their remit, the statement said.

“The NSDA is expected to provide the much-needed single point focus to ensure that skilling quality and standards meet sector-specific requirements benchmarked to international standards. Such an initiative will boost employability of youth in India,” the statement said on Thursday.

The proposal to set up NSDA was first considered by the Cabinet in its meeting held in January this year and it was referred to a Group of Ministers (GoM) to review all aspects.

Initiatally, there were some objections from ministries such as HRD and Labour and Employment which argued since they are involved in skilling exercise as well, the new body would lead to duplication of efforts. However, the differences were sorted out subsequently, sources said.