Archive · 5 Sep 2026
PMKVY Placement Rate Highlights India’s Skilling Employment Gap
PMKVY is an Indian program that teaches people job skills.
The available data shows that only about 7% of enrolled candidates were recorded as getting placed.
More than 19% left the program before completing it.
About 2.04 million candidates were assessed, and 1.95 million received certificates.
Results were different across industries.
Telecom had the strongest placement rate among major sectors, while management had the weakest.
Some sectors also had many students drop out, especially media and entertainment.
Under the newest version, the government is tracking jobs, education, and more training for a year instead of counting placement alone.
About 7% of candidates enrolled under PMKVY were recorded as placed.
Of 3.54 million enrolled candidates, around 683,000, or over 19%, were recorded as dropouts.
The dashboard showed 2.04 million candidates assessed and 1.95 million certified.
Telecom had the highest placement rate among major sectors at 17.5%, while management had the lowest at 1.1%.
PMKVY 4.0 no longer uses placement tracking as its primary measure and instead follows candidates for a year after certification.
- Who
- Candidates enrolled in the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, with post-certification tracking handled by the National Skill Development Corporation under PMKVY 4.0.
- What
- The scheme’s reported placement rate was about 7%, while dropout rates exceeded 19% among 3.54 million enrolled candidates.
- When
- The article does not specify a date for the dashboard data; the figures cover PMKVY 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0, while PMKVY 4.0 uses a different tracking system.
- Where
- India.
- Why
- The figures highlight weak and uneven employment outcomes after skills training, as well as substantial attrition during training.
Placement as a Key Success Measure
Broader Outcomes Beyond Placement
How success should be measured
Placement as a Key Success Measure
The roughly 7% recorded placement rate and more than 19% dropout rate indicate a substantial gap between skills training and employment.
Broader Outcomes Beyond Placement
The government says placement should not be the sole measure of success because candidates may pursue self-employment, higher education or further skilling.
Tracking under PMKVY 4.0
Placement as a Key Success Measure
Delinking placement tracking can make direct comparisons with earlier versions more difficult and may obscure immediate employment outcomes.
Broader Outcomes Beyond Placement
Under PMKVY 4.0, candidates are followed for a year after certification to capture employment, further education and additional training.
- Enrolled candidates
- 3.54 million
- Recorded placement rate
- About 7%
- Recorded dropouts
- Around 683,000, or more than 19% of enrolments
- Assessed candidates
- 2.04 million
- Certified candidates
- 1.95 million
- Highest major-sector placement rate
- Telecom: 17.5%
- Lowest major-sector placement rate
- Management: 1.1%
- Highest dropout rate
- Media and entertainment: 26.5%