Skill development programs have succeeded in increasing human resources supply to various sectors. In the context of the statement analyze the linkages between education, skill and employment.

Gives a case study where skilling is tied to tools, credit and formalisation, and shows why take-up of deeper training lags.

• About 24.4 lakh artisans completed 5 to 7 day basic training with a ₹500 daily stipend, and over 18 lakh toolkits worth up to ₹15,000 each were delivered through India Post.
• Take-up of the 15-day advanced training is weak because artisans lose daily earnings while training.
• Beneficiaries are brought into the formal MSME ecosystem through Udyam registration; argue that the next test is whether incomes rise.

The op-ed's skilling data show a weak link between training and jobs, and argue that social norms undervaluing vocational work must change.

• Less than 3% of India's workforce has formal vocational training and only about 48% of seats in Industrial Training Institutes are filled.
• The ILO's India Employment Report 2024 found real wages of regular and casual workers stagnated or fell between 2012 and 2022.
• The op-ed points to South Korea and China's investment in technical education and calls for industry-run vocational training and dignity for skilled manual work.

Rising urban unemployment and weak urban participation in the PLFS point to a gap between labour supply and suitable jobs, supporting the need to link skilling to demand.

• Urban unemployment rose to 6.8% in August 2026 from 6.7% in July, and urban LFPR at 50.4% is below its level a year earlier.
• Way forward: link skilling to local labour demand and support labour-intensive manufacturing and services to absorb urban job-seekers.
• Caution: CWS counts even a little work in a week as employment, and the monthly bulletin does not show wages, contracts or social security, so it cannot show whether jobs match skills.