The Ministry of Rural Development held a two-day national workshop in New Delhi on 7 and 8 September 2026 to address the completion of projects under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) 1.0. The workshop brought together officials from the Ministry, representatives from States and Union Territories, and technical experts to work out a coordinated approach for formally closing completed projects. DDU-GKY is a skill development programme that trains rural youth for employment through market-oriented courses and job placements.
What was discussed
The workshop addressed the documentation and closure of over 2,000 DDU-GKY 1.0 projects across the country. Senior officials, including the Director of Rural Skills and the Joint Secretary handling Rural Skills, emphasised the need for a time-bound, coordinated approach to complete pending project documentation. Technical presentations by NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS) and the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) covered best practices, case studies, challenges and solutions for project completion.
States and Union Territories including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal shared their project completion status and experiences. The deliberations identified implementation challenges and areas where the Ministry, States and technical agencies need to work together. Participants also discussed priorities for DDU-GKY 2.0, including achieving at least 70 per cent placement rates and strengthening job retention for trainees.
What this means for you
If you are a rural youth trained under DDU-GKY 1.0 or an implementing agency managing these projects, this workshop signals a push to formally close and document projects systematically. State governments have committed to working with the Ministry and technical agencies to complete all pending documentation in a time-bound manner. The focus on placement and retention means future rounds of the scheme may place greater emphasis on ensuring trained workers actually find and keep jobs.