178 training partners blacklisted as Govt cracks down on PMKVY corruption

India’s flagship skilling programme — the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) — has been jolted by one of its biggest clean-ups yet, with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) blacklisting 178 training partners and centres after uncovering widespread fraud, manipulation and ghost infrastructure.

Absentee students, forged attendance sheets, inflated bills, fake documents and centres that simply did not exist — these are among the systemic irregularities flagged in the ministry’s latest communication to state governments, laying bare how deeply entrenched malpractices were in the implementation of PMKVY 4.0, launched in 2022.

Since 2015, PMKVY has trained over 1.64 crore youth so far, with ₹1,538 crore allocated for 2024-25. But the recent findings suggest that a significant portion of taxpayers’ money was siphoned off through fraudulent training partners (TPs) and training centres (TCs), prompting the Centre to begin recovery of funds and initiate legal action against entities facing the “highest level of penalties.”

UP tops blacklist, followed by Delhi and MP

According to the ministry’s letter dated October 30 to state Principal Secretaries and Mission Directors, Uttar Pradesh accounts for the highest number of blacklisted entities (59), followed by Delhi (25), Madhya Pradesh (24) and Rajasthan (20). States such as Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Telangana and Tamil Nadu each have one blacklisted centre or partner.

Of the 178 cases, 122 involved TPs and TCs with mismatched identities — a red flag for proxy operations. In 56 cases, both identities were the same but still found to be non-compliant.

Several directors of the Regional Directorate of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (RDSDE) have said that they had received the blacklist “for the first time,” confirming that training activities had been frozen across defaulters. One official revealed that in their district, “almost the entire PMKVY training has come to a standstill” as FIRs and backend blacklisting continue.

FIRs rising, fund recovery underway

The ministry has confirmed that fund recovery has started and FIRs are being registered against those facing serious penalties — many of which involve tampering with attendance records to show students who never attended training.

NSDC’s silence and its own troubles

Despite repeated queries, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) — the agency implementing PMKVY — has not responded regarding recoveries or the blacklisting process. It had earlier denied information under RTI, citing “confidentiality” and “ongoing investigations.”

The crackdown comes at a time when NSDC itself has been in turmoil. In May, it publicly announced the removal of its CEO Ved Mani Tewari. By August, the ministry had filed a police complaint against two officials appointed to stabilise the corporation, alleging the possibility of them fleeing with government money or property.

A programme under strain

The sweeping suspensions and freezes have brought PMKVY operations to a near-halt in several districts, raising concerns over the immediate future of the government’s skilling mission. With irregularities surfacing across states and the implementing body battling internal crises, the scheme now faces its most urgent credibility test since inception.