NI-MSME: 150% jump in trainees trained amid Covid at govt’s premier MSME development institute in FY21

Nearly 2.75 lakh trainees have been trained across more than 8,164 programmes under Entrepreneurship Skill Development Programme. (Representative Image)

Skill, Labour, Talent for MSMEs: The National Institute of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (NI-MSME), which trains MSMEs, individuals, and professionals for entrepreneurship development, capacity building, marketing, innovation, infrastructure development, quality management, and more under the Ministry of MSME, has witnessed nearly 150 per cent jump in the number of trainees trained during FY21 despite a lesser number of programmes conducted amid Covid vis-à-vis preceding financial year. 95 training programmes involving 9,935 trainees were conducted in FY21 in comparison to 154 programmes involving 3,999 trainees conducted in FY20, according to the available government data.

The trainees were trained across four programme types viz., the institute’s core programmes, international training programmes under the Ministry of External Affairs, sponsored programmes, and programmes under the Assistance to Training Institution (ATI) scheme that is intended to strengthen capacity for training for skill development, entrepreneurship, providing training to staff of District Industries Centres and related government institutions dealing with MSMEs. According to NI-MSME, programmes for MSMEs are divided across three categories. First, marketing (including branding and marketing strategies, internet and social media marketing, planning and promotion, and public procurement policies; second, cluster (infrastructure development, innovation in MSME clusters, PMEGP, implementing soft and hard interventions in clusters), and third, total quality management for MSMEs.

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Meanwhile, under the government’s flagship skill development scheme for entrepreneurs – Entrepreneurship Skill Development Programme (ESDP) has trained nearly 2.75 lakh trainees through over 8,164 programmes so far with an expenditure of Rs 33.5 crore and revenue of Rs 3.18 crore, according to the data available with DC MSME. On the other hand, the government’s job portal for MSMEs – MSME Sampark had only 131 job postings with 936 open vacancies for a staggering 4,71,596 jobseekers, as of April 19, 2021, according to the data available with MSME Sampark portal. The portal focused on helping passed out trainees and students of MSME Technology Centres and recruiters to register themselves for the right match. According to MSME Sampark, 18 MSME Technology Centres in India provide training to around 1.5 lakh students annually. Jobseekers can filter listed jobs as per their skills including animation, Adobe Photoshop, CNC milling, data entry operator, welding technology, social media marketing, footwear design, industrial robotics, thermal engineering, etc.