6th Amendment to the Common Norms for Skill Development Schemes 2026 Notified
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship MSD has notified the 6th Amendment to the Common Norms for Skill Development Schemes, 2026, significantly increasing base training costs to support quality training. Effective immediately, hourly rates for Category I, II, and III courses rose by 15%, 25%, and 5%, respectively, with a 10% premium for specialized areas.
For more details: NOTIFICATION
NIRDPR CTSA attends Pre EC Regional Meetings
NIRDPR DDUGKY Resource Cell as the CTSA of DDUGKY attended the Regional Pre EC Meetings held by the Ministry of Rural Development. The M&E officials representing the CTSA submitted the inputs and recommendations to augment the performance of the scheme in the states to the Ministry based on thorough analyses of performance and future potential of the scheme in each state.
Glimpses of the Events:
TLM Distribution at DDUGKY-Himayat 2.0 Training centres, J&K
Chief Operating Officer (COO), Himayat Mission Management Unit (HMMU), Sh. Rajneesh Gupta (JKAS), visited the Himayat Training Centre of Menrol Skills Pvt. Ltd. at Jammu on 05 February 2026 and distributed Welcome Kits to the enrolled trainees.
Sh. Rajneesh Gupta (JKAS), Chief Operating Officer, Himayat Mission Management Unit JKRLM, distributed welcome kits to newly enrolled Himayat candidates at the Himayat Centre at Care Education Trust, Kathua, Jammu & Kashmir.
Sh. Rajneesh Gupta (JKAS), COO, Himayat Mission Management Unit – JKRLM distributed TLM kits to newly enrolled Himayat candidates at Intecco Technical Services Private Limited, Samba, on 18.02.2026.
Glimpses of the Event:
Training program conducted in the month of February, 2026
The DDU-GKY RC organized and facilitated five workshops in February 2026. All these were off-campus programs organized under the project “Policy Advocacy for Sustainable, Wage-Based Livelihood Models for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Communities from Rural India through consultation and policy advocacy,” funded by Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI).
The objective of these workshops was to enable a platform for Transgender CBOs and leaders working for rural transgenders to come together and share their experience on livelihood models for the communities in rural India that could work, and policy support needed to ensure better livelihood opportunities for transgender and gender diverse communities. The workshops were organized with support from regional and national level Transgender organizations like SAATHII, Lakshya, and PLEQSUS India Foundation, and DDU-GKY RC team members in the respective state. The workshops were held in Guwahati, Assam on 11th Feb, in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha on 17th Feb’26, in Bengaluru, Karnataka on 20th Feb, in Vadodara, Gujarat on 25th Feb & on 26th Feb in Kolkata, West Bengal. The CBO and community leaders participated in these workshops and put forward their experience and recommendation on livelihood interventions for TG and gender diverse community. In these workshops over 100 representatives from CBO and transgender and gender diverse communities participated.
The workshops helped in identifying challenges associated with skill training for transgender persons in rural areas that included awareness, structural challenges and systemic gaps that require attention and addressing.
Glimpses of the Month’s Programs
Success Story:
Two Transwomen in Odisha Join RSETI beautician course
After the intervention of NIRDPR during the Odisha Regional Consultation meet with CBOs, under the the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) Funded regional consultation workshop on Livelihoods for Rural Transgender Persons, two Trans women enrolled in February 2026 in RSETI, Angul, Odisha.
They are pursuing Beautician Course in the RSETI. Mr Jyoti Ranjan Matha CTSA NIRDPR Officer and Mr Praveen Kumar Project Manager NIRDPR coordinated the efforts.
CONTRIBUTORS are from DDU-GKY RC, NIRDPR
- Mr. Sumeet Mahajan, J&K
- Mr. Abhishek Guria, T&D, HQ
- Reports Compiled by: Dr. Nithin Rao
- Reviewed by: Dr. Sandhya Gopakumaran
Articles for Kaushal Samachar may be sent to: ddugkytraining@nirdpr.org.in or nithinrao@nird.gov.in
