IACT Director Rajiv Kumar Meets Jayant Singh, Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, to Discuss Jan Kaushal Kendra

Shri Jayant Singh appreciates the community-level approach of Jan Kaushal Kendra; Shri Harish Khurana highlights the importance of bringing training infrastructure closer to youth

New Delhi: In an important interaction focused on the future of skill development, employability and community-level livelihood opportunities, Shri Rajiv Kumar, Director, IACT Education, met Shri Jayant Singh Ji, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), to present and discuss the Jan Kaushal Kendra model.

The interaction took place in the presence of Shri Harish Khurana Ji, MLA, Moti Nagar, and brought together perspectives around one of the most critical challenges in India's skilling ecosystem—the need to take quality and future-ready training opportunities to the last mile and closer to the communities where young people live. During the interaction, the community-centric approach behind Jan Kaushal Kendra received appreciation, with the discussion highlighting how decentralised training infrastructure can help address the gap between formal training institutions and the communities they are intended to serve.

From Training Centres to Community-Level Skill Ecosystems

Presenting the Jan Kaushal Kendra module, Rajiv Kumar shared the vision of developing a more accessible, industry-aligned and future-ready skilling ecosystem.

The concept seeks to move beyond the conventional definition of a training centre. Instead, the objective is to establish centres that become an integral part of the communities they serve—providing access to skill development, emerging technologies, career guidance, employability support and pathways towards employment and entrepreneurship. The fundamental idea is to reduce the distance between the learner and the opportunity. For a large section of India's youth, particularly those from local and underserved communities, accessibility can determine whether a training opportunity is actually pursued and completed.

Jan Kaushal Kendra seeks to address this challenge by taking the training ecosystem inside the community itself.

“No Scheme Can Be Truly Fruitful Without a Community-Level Approach”

During the interaction, Shri Harish Khurana Ji, MLA, Moti Nagar, highlighted the importance of looking at the implementation and impact of any skilling scheme from the perspective of the community. His observation underlined a practical challenge that often exists between a formal training institution and the young people it seeks to reach.

“No scheme can be truly fruitful unless it is looked at and implemented at the community level.”

He further highlighted that the transition from a training centre to the community itself can become a challenge. For young people, travelling away from their immediate surroundings for training can involve practical difficulties related to distance, time, mobility and their continued connection with their families and communities. This can ultimately affect participation, continuity and the ability of youth to stay engaged with skilling programmes.

The Jan Kaushal Kendra approach seeks to reverse this equation.

Instead of taking the youth away from the community to the training centre, the training centre is established within the community.

This makes the model particularly relevant for creating a more accessible and sustainable last-mile skilling ecosystem.

A Community-First Approach to Skill Development

The appreciation expressed during the interaction reflects the broader relevance of a community-first approach. Traditional skilling models often follow a centre-to-community approach—where the learner is expected to reach the institution. 

Jan Kaushal Kendra proposes a different pathway:

Preparing Youth for the Future of Work

The world of work is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Artificial Intelligence, automation, digitalisation and emerging technologies are changing traditional job roles while creating new categories of employment and entrepreneurship. For India's young workforce, this transformation creates both an opportunity and a challenge. The opportunity lies in India's ability to build a workforce equipped for emerging sectors.

The challenge is ensuring that these opportunities are accessible not only to youth in major educational and employment hubs, but also to learners at the community level. The Jan Kaushal Kendra vision therefore places emphasis on AI and future-driven skills, along with practical employability and vocational competencies.

The objective is to help learners understand not just what jobs exist today, but what skills will be relevant tomorrow.

Beyond Certification: Connecting Skills with Livelihoods

The success of a skilling programme cannot be measured only by enrolment or certification.

The more important questions are:

Does the training improve employability?
Does it lead to employment?
Can it enable entrepreneurship?
Can it improve income and livelihood?

Jan Kaushal Kendra is envisioned around this outcome-oriented approach. The model seeks to connect different stages of the learner journey—from career awareness and counselling to training, certification, employment and entrepreneurship.

This integrated approach can help reduce the gap between acquiring a skill and actually using that skill to create economic value.

A Local Platform for Future Skills

A community-level centre can also play an important role in democratising access to technology. With appropriate digital infrastructure, learners can be introduced to emerging technologies, online learning resources, AI-enabled tools and industry-relevant programmes without having to leave their communities. However, technology alone cannot solve the accessibility challenge. The human element remains equally important. Local trainers, mentors, career counsellors and community stakeholders can provide the guidance required to help learners understand career options, choose appropriate training pathways and transition towards employment or entrepreneurship.

Jan Kaushal Kendra therefore seeks to combine technology-enabled learning with community-level human support.

The Role of Local Leadership

The participation of Shri Harish Khurana Ji in the interaction also highlighted the important role that local leadership can play in strengthening the last mile of skill development. Elected representatives and community-level stakeholders are often closely connected with the aspirations and challenges of local youth. Their involvement can help build awareness, strengthen mobilisation and create stronger connections between communities and skilling opportunities. The discussion around Jan Kaushal Kendra demonstrates the potential of bringing together government, local leadership, training institutions, industry and communities to create a more effective skilling ecosystem.

IACT Education’s Vision

For IACT Education, the Jan Kaushal Kendra initiative represents a broader vision of connecting education, technology, skills and livelihoods. The objective is to create scalable and sustainable models that respond to the changing requirements of learners as well as employers. The proposed approach focuses on making skill development:

• Accessible — by bringing training closer to communities
• Future-ready — through AI and emerging technology skills
• Industry-aligned — by responding to evolving employment requirements
• Outcome-oriented — with focus on employment and entrepreneurship
• Inclusive — by creating opportunities for diverse learner groups
• Community-driven — by understanding local aspirations and requirements

A Step Towards a Stronger Last-Mile Skilling Ecosystem

The meeting between IACT Education Director Rajiv Kumar and Shri Jayant Singh, along with the participation of Shri Harish Khurana, reflects an important conversation around the future direction of community-based skill development. The appreciation for the community-level approach reinforces a simple but powerful principle:

A skilling scheme becomes meaningful only when it reaches the people for whom it is designed.

Creating training infrastructure within communities can help reduce accessibility barriers and create a more direct pathway between young people and opportunities. As India's economy becomes increasingly technology-driven, the need for such locally accessible and future-ready skill ecosystems will only become more important.

The Jan Kaushal Kendra vision seeks to address this need by bringing the training centre to the community, rather than expecting the community to travel to the training centre. Ultimately, the ambition is not merely to create more training centres, but to create more opportunities within reach of India's youth.