DDU-GKY and Rural Youth Employability: An Empirical Study of Training Outcomes in Vidarbha

Abstract

This paper presents a study on the effectiveness of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) to improve the employability of the rural youth in Vidarbha. This study is descriptive as well as empirical research having a research approach of primary data which were gathered by using a structured questionnaire from 200 DDU-GKY beneficiaries. The research findings show that training gave positive actions to the respondents in improving their technical, communication, digital and behavioural skills. Approximately 59% of the respondents gained a job and 12% of them made it their own after their training. Investigate the relationship between training outcomes and employability and that training outcomes accounted for a significant amount of variance in employability. An important positive correlation was found between employability and training outcomes (r = 0.684) and regression analysis showed that training outcomes explained 46.8% of the variance in employability. The primary obstacles faced were low income, lack of local jobs, and problems with migration and skill–job mismatch. The study suggests developing linkages with the industry, demand-led training and providing career counselling and post-placement support.