Rural Self-Employment Training Institutes

• India today has the advantage of having nearly 34 percent of youth population. As per available data, the unemployment rate in India was 7.20 percent in December 2019. The unemployment rate in urbanareas was recorded nearly 6 percent while in rural areas it was nearly 10 percent.
• To tackle the issue of unemployment, self-employment is the best alternative. To fulfill this cause, Ministry of Rural development (MoRD) has opted the concept of Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETls). The role played by RSETls in India is to facilitate youth to start their own business by providing them skill upgradation programmes and training them in latest technologies.
  

Objectives and Scope of the RSETls:

• Rural youth belonging to poor families are identified and trained for Self-employment.
• The training programs conducted will be demand driven.
• The trainees will be provided intensive short-term residential training programmes free of cost, with food and accommodation.
• To develop confidence in unemployed youth.
• To promote rural entrepreneurship.
• Handholding support for credit linkage with banks.

Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETls) are unique skill development organisations operating in districts across the country. They are engaged in developing skill among the unskilled/semi-skilled persons and facilitate the trained persons to establish rural enterprises and secure sustainable livelihoods.

To start the initiative, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India, advised the banks in 2009 to set up one RSETI in each district by the concerned Lead Bank with the support of the State Government.

Salient features:

• Every RSETI should conduct 30-40 different Skill Development Training Programmes in a financial year. All programmes should be of short duration, ranging from 1 to 6 weeks. Each RSETI should provide training to a minimum of 750 rural youth belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category.
• Certain minimum basic standards for the RSETls to be set up by the sponsored banks have been proposed in the guidelines.
• RSETI is an independent body and separate from the bank. It's functioning and management is to be looked after by a Director on deputation from the sponsoring bank.
• RSETls are mandated to impart training to unemployed rural youth particularly fromBPL families and develop skills and build up the confidence to take up the entrepreneurial.
• Objective of the RSETI is creation of microenterprises or self-employment opportunities in rural areas. RSETI should endeavor to provide credit linkages to the trainees after completion of their training.
  

Impact of RSETI Concept

• It is understood that nearly 25 lakh unemployed youth have been settled with the help of RSETls across the country. In addition to their own settlement, some of them have been providing employment to others as well, thereby transforming from the stage of unemployed to employer. RSETls are a very cost-effective medium for creating employment.