When 22-year-old Anjali from a Scheduled Caste family in Kerala completed her education, she found herself facing a familiar dilemma. Like thousands of young people from disadvantaged communities, she had studied hard, earned qualifications and nurtured dreams of financial independence. Yet the job market seemed to demand skills she had never been taught.
Her story is not unique; it illustrates a wider challenge across Kerala.
Across Kerala, many Scheduled Caste (SC) youth have long struggled with a gap between schooling and employment. They were qualified enough to aspire for better jobs but often lacked access to industry-relevant training, exposure to emerging sectors and pathways that could connect them directly to employers. As a result, many were stuck in cycles of unemployment, underemployment and economic uncertainty.
Recognising this challenge, the Scheduled Castes Development Department (SCDD) of the Government of Kerala launched PM-AJAY Unnathi under the Government of India’s PM-AYUSH scheme to give SC youth a direct path from training to livelihood. The programme is more than a training project. It is an attempt to transform welfare into empowerment and opportunity into livelihood.
The need for such an intervention is significant. According to the programme documents, Scheduled Castes constitute approximately 9.1 percent of Kerala’s population, as recorded in the 2011 Census. For decades, public welfare efforts focused on education support, financial assistance and social protection. While important, these measures alone could not fully address the aspirations of a younger generation pursuing meaningful employment and economic mobility.
To address this need, the Department adopted what it calls a Triple ‘E’ Strategy, Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship. The objective is simple but transformative: equip SC youth with skills demanded by contemporary industries, connect them to employers and enable long-term self-reliance.
The programme, which began operations on 30 June 2023, was designed after identifying several lasting challenges. These included a mismatch between traditional education and contemporary industry requirements, low employability among marginalised youth, restricted access to quality skill training and insufficient pathways linking training to assured jobs. The Department also recognised a wider social imperative to reduce economic and social inequalities and ensure inclusive growth.
With that foundation, PM-AJAY Unnathi adopted a demand-driven approach rather than offering generic courses. Market assessments identified sectors experiencing rapid growth and labour demand, including manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, tourism, information technology and emerging technologies. Training programmes were then carefully matched to these opportunities.
To ensure quality, proposals were invited from reputed institutions and industry-linked training partners, including CIPET, ICT Academy, Techshore, SACCA, MG University, KITTS, HCL Technologies, Digital University, ASAP, HLFPPT, NCRMI, BWFS and others.
For the 2025-26 cycle alone, the programme plans to train 1,362 students across 28 different skill-development courses. Large enrolments include 114 students in Hospital Administration and Healthcare Management; 100 students each in Machine Operator-Injection Moulding, HCL Techbee IT Role and HCL Techbee DPO Role; and, 84 students in Air Cargo and Dangerous Goods Regulation training. Drone certification, blockchain, cybersecurity, electric vehicle technology and digital marketing courses show a deliberate effort to place marginalised youth within future-oriented industries.
Those numbers also represent distinct journeys.
For many participants, joining these programmes is the first time they encounter career environments, modern technologies, structured career counselling and direct interaction with employers. The programme combines technical instruction with soft-skill development, confidence building and workplace readiness.
Implementation has necessitated thorough coordination. Eligible candidates are mobilised through outreach campaigns, awareness programmes, counselling sessions and cooperation with local bodies. Transparent selection processes ensure deserving youth are enrolled, while continuous monitoring tracks attendance, performance and outcomes.
Even so, the road has not been free of obstacles.
Programme managers report difficulties in motivating some eligible youth because of socio-economic constraints and limited awareness. Sustaining consistent quality across multiple training institutions presents another challenge. Rapidly evolving industry requirements require constant updating of course content, while placement and retention can be affected by geographical mobility limitations and workplace adaptation issues.
The programme’s emphasis on placement has already produced tangible results. According to the implementation report, 27 candidates from the BWFS Airline Customer Service Executive course have already secured placements, demonstrating that industry linkages are translating into employment opportunities. More broadly, the initiative reports improvements in employability, confidence, workplace readiness and financial self-sufficiency among participants.
Building on this momentum, the Department plans to expand the model by onboarding additional training partners, diversifying into new high-growth sectors, strengthening employer partnerships and introducing digital and blended learning formats. The long-term vision is to create a comprehensive ecosystem that integrates skill development, employment and entrepreneurship for marginalised youth.
One lesson stands out clearly from the programme’s experience: training alone is not enough. Skill development becomes meaningful only when it is connected to employment opportunities, industry demand and sustained support systems. That insight has shaped every aspect of PM-AJAY Unnathi and defines its central purpose.
For young people, the significance is deeply personal. A skill certificate may represent much more than a qualification. It can mean the first steady income in a family, freedom from economic vulnerability and the confidence to imagine a future beyond inherited limitations.
In that sense, PM-AJAY Unnathi isn’t simply creating workers. It is helping create possibilities. And for hundreds of Scheduled Caste youth across Kerala, those possibilities are opening doors that once appeared permanently closed.
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