BENGALURU: While there are nearly three lakh beneficiaries under the Yuva Nidhi scheme, one of the five guarantee schemes of the State government that provides financial assistance to unemployed graduates and diploma holders, it seems the beneficiaries are not keen to develop skills to land a job, with 90 per cent of them refraining from registering for Yuva Nidhi Plus scheme.
Launched in February 2024, this scheme was to help graduates develop skills for jobs, free of cost, through training programmes at various institutions.
The poor admissions are despite the government reaching out to the beneficiaries through calls and SMS on their mobile numbers, encouraging them to enrol for Yuva Nidhi Plus. “They are scared the government will stop providing funds under Yuva Nidhi scheme. But that is not the truth, when they are being trained, the government will still support them with funds under the guarantee scheme until they get placement,” the minister said.
Minister for Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood Dr Sharan Prakash Patil said, “Around 2,98,000 graduates and diploma holders have registered under the Yuva Nidhi scheme, and the government wants to offer skill-based training that can make them employable. However, none of them have come forward to register and access training.”
The initiative aims to train 25,000 Yuva Nidhi beneficiaries under various skill courses, and Rs 27 crore was set aside for Yuva Nidhi Plus. Patil said, “The funds set aside were not utilised during 2025, now the department has decided to increase the training target by consolidating the 2025 and 2026 funds.”
As per data gathered under the Yuva Nidhi scheme, around 3,79,000 students registered for the scheme, of whom 2,98,000 were eligible. Of the total 3,79,000 students, more than 47,000 unemployed candidates, or 13 per cent, are engineering graduates. “Around 3,00,214 students are from Arts, Science, Commerce, Management and other streams, while 27,843 are non-engineering postgraduates,” the minister said, adding that for every one lakh engineering students, only 20,000 get employment.
To strengthen the hands-on training for engineering students and make them employable, Dr Patil stressed that colleges can introduce a tripartite model of training. “For instance, at PES University, Bajaj company has set up a training centre for students.
They conduct entrance exams and even government college students can participate and get trained by them. I have proposed this idea to many colleges and private companies where college campuses will host the training centre, state government will bear the cost of training and companies will train and provide placement. Following this successful model, another private company is setting up a training centre at RV College,” he explained.
IN THE JOB MARKET
Total Registered: 3,79,080
Non-Engineering: 3,00,214
Non-Engineering PGs: 27,843
Engineering graduates: 43,529
Engineering PGs: 374
Diploma in Engineering: 4250
Diploma/ Others: 2,870
Total Beneficiaries (DBT): 2,98,316
Expenditure in FY 2025-26: Rs 874.17cr