---
title: "DDU-GKY: Rural Skilling Scheme Explained | Model Diplomat"
description: "DDU-GKY is India's rural skilling scheme aimed at training poor youth aged 15-35, ensuring job placements to enhance employment opportunities."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/deen-dayal-upadhyaya-grameen-kaushalya-yojana"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- DDU-GKY is India's central rural placement-linked skilling scheme launched in 2014 to train and employ poor rural youth aged 15-35.
- How does DDU-GKY differ from PMKVY?
- What are DDU-GKY's mandatory social inclusion targets?
- Who implements DDU-GKY on the ground?
- What criticisms have auditors raised about DDU-GKY?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

DDU-GKY is India's central rural placement-linked skilling scheme launched in 2014 to train and employ poor rural youth aged 15-35.

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## Positions at a glance

### Supporters

The eligibility envelope targets rural youth aged 15 to 35 (extended to 45 for women and specified vulnerable categories) from poor households identified through the SECC database, BPL lists, or RSBY/Antyodaya rolls. The scheme mandates social-inclusion floors: at least 50 per cent of funds for SC/ST candidates, 15 per cent for minorities, 33 per cent for women, and 3 per cent for persons with disabilities. A signature contractual requirement is that PIAs achieve a minimum placement of 70 per cent of trained candidates, with at least 50 per cent in regular wage employment offering monthly remuneration at or above the statutory minimum wage; post-placement support stipends and continued tracking for a defined retention period distinguish it from input-counting schemes. Variants include the Himayat programme for Jammu and Kashmir, the Roshni initiative for youth in Left-Wing Extremism-affected districts, and a foreign-placement track.

### Opponents

Procedurally, DDU-GKY functions as a centrally sponsored scheme funded on a 60:40 Centre-state cost-sharing ratio (90:10 for the eight North-Eastern states and three Himalayan states; fully Central for Union Territories). The scheme operates through accredited Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs)—NGOs, companies, industry bodies, and training providers—selected through a structured action-plan model and an annual call for proposals. PIAs identify and mobilise eligible candidates, deliver residential or non-residential training mapped to the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) and National Occupational Standards, and are contractually bound to place a defined proportion of trainees in wage employment. Funding is released against milestones tied to mobilisation, training, assessment, and—critically—post-placement tracking, with a portion of the per-candidate cost disbursed only after sustained employment is verified.

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Example

In 2014 the Ministry of Rural Development launched DDU-GKY on Deen Dayal Upadhyaya's birth anniversary, contracting Project Implementing Agencies to skill and place rural youth aged 15-35 with a mandatory 70 per cent placement target.

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