Taking a jibe at the Skill India initiative of the Narendra Modi government, the Congress on Friday said that investigation by media and Parliamentary replies by his own Ministers have “punched gaping holes in the tall claims by the Prime Minister”.

Citing an investigative report, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi demanded that a comprehensive impartial investigation should be done in the “Skill India Scam”.

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“Like everything else that the Modi Govt does, its ‘Skill India Mission’ also has turned out to be a massive scam with people within the BJP eco-system, its cronies, middlemen, touts and mafia pocketing the money for the same and listing ghost beneficiaries,” Singhvi said.

He said that in the name of making youth employable, Modi Govt’s Skill Development Ministry seems to have created a shortcut to profitable business for the unscrupulous.

Citing the report, Singhvi said that there are several ghost beneficiaries under the Textile Ministry’s Integrated Skill Development Scheme (ISDS).

“Most Partner agencies that are an active part of the BJP’s eco-system are entitled to 75 per cent of government subsidy on the sanctioned cost of Rs 10,000 per candidate. These middlemen and touts use details like Aadhaar numbers of unsuspecting people to project them as beneficiaries of Skill India,” he alleged.

He said that a social worker from Uttar Pradesh who had filed an RTI query had alleged that Aadhar cards of gullible villagers are being virtually stolen by touts and middlemen in the name of skill development initiatives.

Quoting the social worker, Singhvi said, “Sometimes the middlemen also demand up to Rs 10,000 from a candidate in lieu of approval of enrolments.”

The Congress said that a Rajya Sabha reply dated 8 August 2018 by the Ministry of Skill Development, now headed by Dharmendra Pradhan, spilled the beans on the Skill Development scheme.

“As per data reported on Skill Development Management System (SDMS) portal, about 50 lakh candidates have been trained in the country so far since the inception of the Scheme. Of the candidates certified under PMKVY as on 10.07.2018, Only 9.68 lakh candidates have been placed in various sectors across the country,” he said.

Singhvi added that only 1.25 per cent of the targeted 40 crore people have been trained under Skill India.

“Out of these, less than 20 per cent have been placed. This is the pathetic record of the Modi government, who has allocated Rs 12,000 crore for this scheme,” he alleged.

Skill India, which was launched on 15 July 2015 by PM Modi, promised to train 40 crore people by 2022.

The Congress said that the specific scheme comes under her portfolio of Textile Minister Smriti Irani.

“Smriti Irani is absolutely mum on the rampant corruption under her watch. Why?” asked Singhvi.

The Congress also demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that “behind that slogan making exercise, the idea was to divert funds from skilling of youth to create hubs of profiteering by agents of BJP Ministers, MLAs and MPs”.