**Executive Summary:**
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) addresses the steps taken to promote digital skilling and employment in the electronics and IT sector. The government is promoting digital skilling, creating employment opportunities, and encouraging startups through initiatives like Digital India and the Electronics Manufacturing Cluster Scheme. These efforts aim to position India as a global leader in artificial intelligence and bridge the digital skills gap, particularly for youth from rural and small-town backgrounds.
**Key Points / Main Content:**
* **Digital Skilling Initiatives:**
* **Future Skills PRIME:** Over 22.79 Lakh candidates enrolled; focuses on emerging technologies (AI, robotics, cybersecurity, etc.).
* **YUVAi (Youth for Unnati and Vikas with AI):** National program for school students (classes 8-12) focusing on AI skills in thematic areas.
* **NIELIT (National Institute of Electronics Information Technology):** Trained/certified over 43.6 lakh individuals in digital skills and emerging technologies.
* **PMGDISHA (Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan):** Trained approximately 6.39 crore individuals in digital literacy across rural households.
* **Support for Startups and Innovation:**
* Schemes like TIDE 2.0, MeitY Startup Hub (MSH), and Centres of Excellence provide mentorship, funding, incubation, and access to technical infrastructure.
* **Skill Development in ESDM Sector:**
* Two schemes have trained 4,93,919 candidates, certified 3,75,289 candidates, and placed 1,38,275 candidates.
* **Additional Skilling Initiatives:**
* **Skill India Mission:** Training programs aligned with industry needs in IT and electronics.
* **PMKVY (Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana):** Trained 25.77 lakh candidates and certified 15.39 Lakh candidates with a focus on new-age courses like AI and Cybersecurity.
* **Atal Innovation Mission:** AIM-State partnership for strengthening the innovation ecosystem in states/UTs.
* **AI Ecosystem Development:**
* IndiaAI mission launched in March 2024 to position India as a global leader in AI.
**Impact Analysis**
**Youth (especially from rural and small towns):**
* *Impact:* Increased access to digital skills and employment opportunities in the IT and electronics sector.
* *Action Required:* Participate in available skilling programs (Future Skills PRIME, YUVAi, NIELIT, PMGDISHA, PMKVY) to enhance employability.
**Startups and Innovators:**
* *Impact:* Enhanced access to mentorship, funding, incubation, and technical infrastructure.
* *Action Required:* Leverage MeitY schemes (TIDE 2.0, MSH, Centres of Excellence) to develop and scale their innovations.
**Training Institutions (NIELIT, etc.):**
* *Impact:* Increased responsibility in delivering quality training in digital skills and emerging technologies.
* *Action Required:* Continue to improve and expand training programs to meet the evolving needs of the IT and electronics industry.
**Electronics and IT Sector:**
* *Impact:* Access to a larger pool of skilled workforce.
* *Action Required:* Collaborate with government initiatives to align training programs with industry needs.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology: The Indian government ministry responsible for electronics and information technology policy.
Digital India: A Government of India initiative to ensure that Government services are made available to citizens electronically by improved online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity.
India BPO Promotion Scheme IBPS: A scheme to promote Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITeS) sector in India.
Electronics Manufacturing Cluster Scheme: A scheme to provide support for the creation of world-class infrastructure for attracting investments in the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) Sector.
IndiaAI mission: A strategic initiative by the Government of India to establish a robust and inclusive AI ecosystem aligned with India's development goals.
Future Skills PRIME: A program run in association with NASSCOM to skill candidates in emerging technologies such as AI, robotics, 3D printing, cybersecurity, etc.
YUVAi: Youth for Unnati and Vikas with AI: A National Programme for School Students with the objective of enabling school students from classes 8th to 12th with AI skills.
Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan PMGDISHA: An initiative to reach digital literacy in 6 crore rural households nationwide.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1697
TO BE ANSWERED ON: 30.07.2025
CREATION OF EMPLOYMENT IN ELECTRONICS AND IT SECTOR
1697. SHRI ZIA UR REHMAN: SHRI CHHOTELAL:
Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government is aware that a large number of youth especially from rural and small-
town backgrounds face challenges in accessing opportunities related to digital skills, IT-enabled
services and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain and cyber
security;
(b) if so, the details of the steps being taken by the Government to promote digital skilling, create
employment opportunities in the electronics and IT sector and encourage startups and innovation
through initiatives like Digital India, India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS) and the Electronics
Manufacturing Cluster Scheme; and
(c) if not, the reasons therefor?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI JITIN PRASADA)
(a) to (c): India has a strong information technology ecosystem. It generates annual revenues of
more than 250 billion dollars and provides employment to more than 6 million people. Further,
Government has launched IndiaAI mission in March 2024. The AI strategy aims to position India
as a global leader in artificial intelligence. It is a strategic initiative to establish a robust and
inclusive AI ecosystem aligned with India's development goals. India is also the second-largest
contributor to GitHub for AI projects, showcasing its vibrant developer community. Global
rankings such as Stanford AI rankings place India among the top countries in AI skills, capabilities,
and policies to use AI.
Future Skills PRIME: Government has enrolled more than 22.79 Lakh candidate under the
FutureSkills PRIME program. The program is being run in association with industry association
NASSCOM. It aims to skill candidate in emerging technologies such as AI, robotics, 3D printing,
cybersecurity, etc.
YUVAi: Youth for Unnati and Vikas with AI: A National Programme for School Students with
the objective of enabling school students from classes 8th to 12th. It focuses on AI skills in 8
thematic areas - Krishi, Aarogya, Shiksha, Paryavaran, Parivahan, Grameen Vikas, Smart Cities
and Vidhi aur Nyaay.National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT): NIELIT has been
actively working to improve access to digital skills and emerging technologies like AI, Blockchain,
and Cybersecurity for youth from rural and small-town backgrounds. Over the last five years,
NIELIT has trained/certified over 43.6 lakh individuals through its various centres and skill
development initiatives.
Support for Startups and Innovation: Various schemes under MeitY such as TIDE 2.0
(Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs), the MeitY Startup Hub (MSH), and
Centres of Excellence in emerging technologies are providing mentorship, funding support,
incubation, and access to technical infrastructure for startups and innovators across the country.
Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA): The PMGDISHA was
initiated to reach digital literacy in 6 crore rural households (one person per household) nationwide.
As against a target of 6 crore, around 6.39 crore individuals were trained across the country.
Skill Development in ESDM Sector: The Government has implemented two schemes for Skill
Development in ESDM Sector to facilitate eco-system creation for development of ESDM Sector
in the country. Under both of the Schemes, a total of 4,93,919 candidates have been trained and
3,75,289 candidates have been certified and a total of 1,38,275 candidates have been placed.
Additional initiatives that contribute to skilling:
i) Skill India Mission: Under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, this
mission includes training programs aligned with industry needs in the IT and electronics sectors
to improve employability and entrepreneurship among youth.
ii) Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY): to impart skill development training
through Short-Term Training (STT) and up-skilling and reskilling through Recognition of Prior
Learning (RPL). Further, the scheme also focuses on new-age and emerging courses such as
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cybersecurity, etc. Under PMKVY, so far, a total of 25.77 lakh
candidates have been trained, and 15.39 Lakh candidates have been certified.
iii) Atal Innovation Mission: NITI Aayog has initiated an AIM-State partnership for
strengthening the existing innovation ecosystem in the states/UTs.
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