Following CAG disclosures, Congress seeks probe into irregularities in PMKVY
http://Following CAG disclosures, Congress seeks probe into irregularities in PMKVY
Sandhyamidday@NEWDELHI. Following the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s findings of widespread irregularities in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), including large-scale data manipulation, financial mismanagement, weak oversight mechanisms and violations of eligibility norms across PMKVY 2.0 and PMKVY 3.0 between 2015 and 2022, the Congress today demanded a time-bound probe into the matter.
Addressing a press conference here, party leader Kannan Gopinathan referred to the CAG audit covering Short-Term Training (STT), Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and Special Projects (SP), which found that bank account details for over 95 per cent of beneficiaries were invalid, blank or unavailable, severely undermining the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism meant to disburse Rs 500 incentives to certified candidates.
Quoting the CAG report, he said that out of 95.90 lakh participants analysed, 90.66 lakh candidates (94.53 per cent) had blank or invalid bank account entries, like zeroes, null and Not Applicable. Among the remaining accounts, he added, 12,122 unique bank account numbers were reused for over 52,000 candidates, indicating duplication and possible fraud.
Gopinathan said the audit also flagged rampant irregularities in contact details, including fake email IDs, while mobile numbers were often invalid, or with less than 10 digits or repeated patterns.
For over 36 lakh candidates, he said, the email field was marked merely as “Migrated data”. Even PMKVY 4.0 data reviewed in October 2024 showed continued deficiencies, including invalid & repeated mobile numbers, and null & repeated email IDs, he noted.
The Congress leader said that trainer and assessor records were found to be poorly maintained and grossly incomplete. Over 61 lakh certified candidates were linked to records with null or zero trainer IDs, while thousands of batches recorded trainer names as “Null” or “Migrated Data”, raising serious concerns over the authenticity of training delivery.
On the financial front, Gopinathan quoted the CAG report as saying that of Rs 14,450 crore earmarked for PMKVY across phases, Rs 10,194 crore was released and Rs 9,261 crore was utilised. As of July 2023, Rs 337.16 crore remained unutilised nationwide, he said, adding that out of 95.91 lakh certified candidates, 36 percent – more than 34 lakh – had not received their promised DBT incentive.
Gopinathan also referred to poor state-wise utilisation in several cases. He said Bihar utilised only Rs 5.96 crore out of Rs 36.82 crore released, Odisha utilised Rs 7.39 crore out of Rs 27.71 crore and refunded Rs 20.33 crore along with Rs 6.39 crore in interest, while Maharashtra had nearly Rs 19 crore unspent.
Gopinathan said the audit also uncovered serious violations of age, education and work-experience eligibility norms. Over 52,000 underage candidates were certified as group farming practitioners, more than 40,000 underage candidates were certified as self-employed tailors, and over 1,100 underage candidates were trained and certified as drivers or chauffeurs despite statutory age and licence requirements.
Education-related lapses were equally severe, he said, adding that over 8 lakh candidates did not meet the minimum educational qualifications for their certified roles, while educational data was missing for nearly 7 lakh candidates in roles requiring education beyond Class 9. For roles requiring prior technical education, more than 85 per cent of certified candidates had only basic literacy or general education.
Gopinathan said the CAG further identified cases of duplicate photographs being used for beneficiaries across different states, violating documentation norms.
“The CAG concluded that systemic failures in data validation, monitoring, financial controls and compliance had severely compromised the objectives of the government’s flagship skilling programme, calling for urgent corrective action and accountability,” he added.
Gopinathan emphasised that this was taxpayers’ hard-earned money that had fallen prey to corruption. He demanded that the government order a high-level, impartial investigation into the scam exposed by the CAG report. He said the Congress party would raise the issue in Parliament and expect the government to take action in the matter.
