Why in News?

• India’s skilling ecosystem faces a fundamental education–employment mismatch.
• The NITI Aayog report Reimagining Skilling for Viksit Bharat highlights that unemployment among graduates remains substantially above the national average, while generic degrees often fail to translate into employability.
• The report calls for a shift towards specialised, industry-linked education, apprenticeships and outcome-oriented skilling.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• The Education–Employment Disconnect
• NEET and the Skilling Information Gap
• Social Stigma Around Vocational Education
• Skilling Has Significant Wage Returns
• Structural Weaknesses in Existing Skilling Architecture
• NITI Aayog’s Policy Roadmap
• Conclusion

The Education–Employment Disconnect:

• Only 8.25% of graduates are employed in jobs aligned with their qualifications, according to data cited from the Economic Survey 2024-25.
• Graduate unemployment stands at around 13%, while unemployment among graduate women is 20.4%, compared with the national unemployment rate of 3.2%.
• Of 3.4 crore undergraduate students, 1.13 crore are enrolled in B.A., while combined enrolment in B.A., B. Sc. and B. Com exceeds 2 crore.
• The State of Working India report also highlights persistent educated unemployment.
  • For example, unemployment among graduates below 25 rose from 35% in 1983 to 39% in 2023, while that among graduates aged 25–29 increased from 12% to 20%.
• Thus, the challenge is not merely a shortage of jobs but a mismatch between qualifications, skills and labour-market demand.
• This reflects the problem of credential inflation—possession of degrees has expanded faster than the availability of suitably skilled employment.

NEET and the Skilling Information Gap:

• NITI Aayog identified 8.7 crore people aged 15–29 as NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training), accounting for 11% of the population outside the labour force.
• However, the Aayog subsequently clarified that the NEET category in its report refers to people not seeking employment and should therefore not be equated with unemployment or added to the unemployment rate.
• Lack of awareness is a major barrier to skilling.
  • For example, around 47% of women, 43% of youth, 36% of higher-education students, 52% of formal workers and 55% of informal workers, do not pursue skills.
  • This is due to inadequate information about suitable programmes among the leading reasons. 

Social Stigma Around Vocational Education:

• Technical and vocational pathways such as ITIs, diplomas and vocational training continue to be viewed as “second-tier” options by many families and students.
• Career choices are frequently influenced by -
  • Examination scores and family preferences;
  • Perceived social status of conventional degrees;
  • Cost of acquiring additional skills;
  • Inadequate knowledge of career alternatives; and
  • Absence of visible success stories from vocational pathways.
• This creates a degree-centric education culture, even when alternative pathways may offer better employment prospects.

Skilling Has Significant Wage Returns:

• The report cites BCG data showing that a generic undergraduate without additional skilling earns an average starting salary of about ₹22,000 per month, compared with ₹29,000 for a similarly qualified graduate with skilling.
• At the reported growth rate, the initial ₹7,000 monthly difference could translate into an estimated ₹9.7 lakh cumulative income gap over 10 years.
• For women, barriers are compounded by concerns regarding safety, trust, social permission, time constraints and uncertain employment outcomes.

Structural Weaknesses in Existing Skilling Architecture:

• Existing programmes often measure success through enrolment and completion, rather than placement; wage progression; career advancement; or long-term employability.
• Delivery is also often inflexible and insufficiently differentiated for diverse learner groups.
• Awareness of schemes such as PMKVY, DDU-GKY and PM Internship Scheme remains inadequate, particularly among those who could benefit most.
• India needs to move from an input-based skilling model to an outcome-based model, where funding and institutional performance are linked to employment, earnings and career progression.

NITI Aayog’s Policy Roadmap:

• Shift towards industry-linked education: Generic degrees should be redesigned into applied specialisations, such as B.A. Hospitality; B. Sc. Applied Technology; and B. Com. Analytics.
• Expand work-based learning: Scale up Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programmes (AEDP) and Work-Integrated Degree Programmes (WIDP) to integrate classroom learning with practical experience.
• Target sunrise and transition sectors:
  • Skilling should prioritise high-growth sectors such as green industries, electric vehicles and emerging technologies.
  • At the same time, workers affected by technological disruption or structural decline in sectors such as traditional automotive manufacturing and mining require reskilling and transitional income support.
• Strengthen institutional infrastructure: The report recommends -
  • Greenfield PPP skilling universities, drawing on models such as the World Skill Center in Odisha;
  • PPP skilling hubs within existing public campuses;
  • Industry partnerships to redesign college curricula;
  • Greater academic and administrative autonomy for ITIs; and
  • Local-demand-based courses and flexible trainer/procurement arrangements.

Conclusion:

• India’s skilling challenge requires a whole-of-education-and-employment approach rather than isolated training schemes.
• General employability should be strengthened through digital literacy, financial literacy, communication and workplace readiness, alongside entrepreneurship skills.
• The larger objective should be to create a demand-driven, industry-backed and outcome-linked skilling ecosystem in which degrees signal relevant capabilities rather than merely educational attainment.

Why in the News?

• PM Modi chaired the 53^rd PRAGATI meeting, reviewing six infrastructure projects worth more than Rs. 30,000 crore, along with issues relating to AgriStack and cyber fraud.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• About PRAGATI (Objectives, Key Features, Significance, etc.)
• News Summary (53^rd Meeting Key Highlights)

PRAGATI

• PRAGATI stands for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation.
• It is an ICT-enabled, multi-modal platform designed to facilitate direct interaction between the Union Government, State Governments and implementing agencies for resolving bottlenecks in major projects and government programmes.
• The platform combines digital technology, data-based monitoring and inter-governmental coordination.
• Its purpose is not merely to review project progress but also to identify pending issues and ensure that they are addressed by the concerned authorities.

Key Features of PRAGATI

• Monitoring of major government projects.
• Review of important government programmes.
• Identification and resolution of implementation bottlenecks.
• Coordination between Central ministries and State governments.
• Use of technology and data for evidence-based governance.
• Time-bound follow-up on decisions taken during reviews.
• The platform is particularly relevant for large infrastructure projects because their implementation often involves multiple ministries, State governments, agencies and other stakeholders.

Significance of PRAGATI

• Large infrastructure projects can face delays because of issues such as inter-agency coordination, pending approvals, land-related matters, utility shifting and administrative bottlenecks.
• PRAGATI provides an institutional mechanism through which such issues can be reviewed at a high level and responsibility for their resolution can be clearly identified.
• It therefore seeks to improve administrative coordination, accountability and timely implementation.

News Summary

• During the 53rd PRAGATI meeting, six infrastructure projects across the Railway, Road and Power sectors were reviewed.
• The projects are spread across nine States and involve a cumulative investment of more than 30,000 crore. The review focused on:
  • Adherence to project timelines
  • Inter-agency coordination
  • Resolution of pending issues
  • Expeditious completion of projects
• The projects are significant for strengthening connectivity, supporting industrial and economic activity and improving public services.

Speed Alongside Quality

• The Prime Minister emphasised that faster execution should not compromise quality.
• Ministries, State governments and implementing agencies were asked to adopt modern technologies and strengthen quality assurance and supervision at every stage of project execution.
• The review also emphasised a more proactive work culture, with greater ownership at different levels of administration.
• An important observation was that infrastructure projects should be viewed as an integrated whole rather than as separate sections or packages.
• Progress in individual components should ultimately result in the timely completion and commissioning of the entire project.
• The meeting also called for examining the feasibility of common utility corridors for infrastructure services, particularly while planning major transport projects.

AgriStack and Agricultural Data

• The meeting also reviewed AgriStack, which is part of the Digital Agriculture Mission.
• The Prime Minister emphasised greater use of modern digital technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), to derive greater value from agricultural data.
• The data ecosystem was highlighted as being relevant across the agricultural value chain, from input planning to processing.
• Better utilisation of agricultural data can support:
  • More informed interventions
  • Better targeting of government measures
  • Data-driven decision-making
  • Improved delivery of services to farmers
• The meeting also noted the efforts of the Central and State governments in developing the AgriStack ecosystem and called for its further strengthening.

Cyber Fraud and Digital Arrest

• Cyber fraud cases, including incidents involving digital arrest, were also reviewed.
• The discussion emphasised that prevention requires sustained efforts in training, public awareness and education.
• The Prime Minister called for continuous and targeted awareness campaigns, particularly for senior citizens, youth & other vulnerable sections of society.
• Such campaigns should familiarise citizens with common fraud techniques, warning signs and safe digital practices.
• The meeting also stressed the need for regular capacity-building of personnel dealing with cyber fraud, so that emerging forms of fraud can be identified and acted upon quickly.

Conclusion

• PRAGATI provides a technology-enabled mechanism for strengthening coordination between different levels of government and addressing implementation bottlenecks in major projects and programmes.
• The 53rd meeting demonstrated its broad scope by combining reviews of infrastructure projects with issues concerning agricultural data and cyber fraud.
• The emphasis on timely execution, quality assurance, technology adoption and institutional capacity-building highlights the importance of effective implementation in achieving public policy outcomes.

Conclusion

• The wars in Ukraine and Iran have exposed a fundamental limitation of modern air power: control of the skies does not automatically ensure victory.
• Ukraine’s networked air defence prevented Russia from securing uncontested airspace, while allied air dominance over Iran failed to compel Tehran to end the conflict.
• Air power remains indispensable, but it cannot win a war independently.
• For India, this raises important questions about the Indian Air Force’s preference for operational flexibility over fixed theatre commands.
• While this approach has worked against Pakistan, its effectiveness against China remains untested.

Air Power’s Limits Exposed

• Denial of Airspace
  • The Ukraine conflict shows that aircraft numbers alone cannot guarantee air superiority. Integrated air-defence networks can deny access even to a larger air force.
  • For India, this creates a two-sided challenge: strong air defence could deny China control of Indian skies, while inadequate integration could expose India to similar vulnerabilities.
• Air Dominance Does Not Guarantee Victory
  • The allied campaign against Iran demonstrated that air dominance does not necessarily produce strategic victory.
  • Even when opposing forces can strike everything they detect, concealed and dispersed capabilities may survive.
  • This matters for India because Pakistan and China represent very different strategic challenges.
  • Pakistan has limited strategic depth and can be pressured relatively quickly, whereas China has greater military capacity, geographical depth and endurance.
• The Changing Cost Arithmetic
  • The growing use of inexpensive drones creates an unfavourable cost-exchange ratio for defenders.
  • Shahed-type drones can cost tens of thousands of dollars, while interceptors may cost millions.
  • India encountered a similar challenge during Operation Sindoor in May 2025, when cheaper drones required costlier defensive responses.
  • Against China, such economic asymmetry could become much larger.
  • Modern air warfare therefore increasingly requires cost-effective air defence, drones, electronic warfare and layered capabilities, rather than dependence on expensive interceptors alone.

The IAF’s Case Against Theatre-isation

• Flexibility Versus the China Challenge
  • The success of Balakot and Operation Sindoor strengthens the IAF's argument that centralised flexibility can deliver results.
  • However, the China front presents a fundamentally different environment.
  • India faces constraints in aircraft availability, while Himalayan geography, limited airbases and difficult terrain restrict rapid redeployment.
  • An approach successful against Pakistan may therefore prove inadequate against China.
• The Jointness Deficit
  • If flexibility cannot overcome these constraints, stronger tri-service jointness becomes essential.
  • Joint-force generation, common planning, intelligence-sharing and integrated training can improve effectiveness without requiring immediate large-scale hardware expansion.
  • The Kargil conflict of 1999 exposed shortcomings in inter-service coordination, while the Ladakh crisis of 2020 demonstrated that the problem remained unresolved.
• Institutional and Career Barriers
  • Resistance to integration is not purely doctrinal. Career progression, service hierarchies and differences in rank structures can influence attitudes towards joint commands.
  • India needs to make joint experience an integral part of military careers so that officers do not perceive joint postings as a professional disadvantage.
  • The United States provides an example of institutionalising joint experience within career progression.
• Consultative Authority Versus Command Authority
  • The IAF’s proposed Joint Coordination Centre emphasises consultation and coordination.
  • Such arrangements may work in peacetime, but wartime conditions require rapid decisions and clearly defined authority.
  • A theatre command provides a single commander with operational responsibility over a geographical area.
  • The United States, China and Israel have adopted stronger forms of joint command, demonstrating the importance of decisive authority during crises.

The Cost of Delay

• The IAF's position is defensible because its flexibility has produced results against Pakistan.
• The unresolved question is whether the same model can deliver rapid mobilisation, efficient resource allocation and effective joint operations against China.
• If tensions simultaneously escalate in Ladakh and Siachen, India may have to allocate limited Rafale aircraft and S-400 systems between multiple fronts.
• Such decisions cannot depend on lengthy consultation during an active conflict.
• A prolonged jointness gap could leave commanders along the Line of Actual Control uncertain about the timely availability of air support.
• In war, such delays could directly affect India's ability to protect its territory.

Conclusion

• Theatre-isation should not be viewed simply as a dispute between the IAF and advocates of integrated commands because the larger question is India’s preparedness for a conflict with China.
• Modern warfare requires air power to function alongside air defence, drones, missiles, intelligence, electronic warfare, logistics and joint command structures.
• The IAF's flexibility remains valuable, but China presents a different challenge in scale, geography and endurance.
• India must therefore resolve its organisational questions before a crisis forces decisions under battlefield conditions.
• The responsibility ultimately belongs to the political leadership, which must ensure that India’s armed forces are prepared before the next war tests them.

Context

• The debate over transparency in judicial appointments has resurfaced after Justice Ujjal Bhuyan observed that greater openness in the collegium process could strengthen public confidence and ensure that merit remains the governing principle.
• The issue is not whether judicial independence should be protected, but whether such independence should mean complete insulation from constitutional accountability.
• After nearly three decades, the collegium continues to face concerns over transparency, equality and institutional legitimacy.

Evolution of the Collegium System

• The collegium system is a judicial creation, not a constitutional provision and the First Judges Case (1981) gave the executive primacy in appointments.
• The Second Judges Case (1993) shifted primacy to the collective opinion of the Chief Justice of India and senior judges, while the Third Judges Case (1998) expanded it into the present five-member collegium.
• The system was designed to protect judicial independence from political interference. However, independence cannot justify the absence of accountability.
• The lack of public notification of vacancies, transparent eligibility criteria and a clearly known assessment methodology makes the process difficult to scrutinise.

Resolutions Without Reasons

• The collegium initially moved towards greater openness by publishing resolutions with brief reasons in 2017.
• However, disclosure subsequently declined, and since November 2024, resolutions have reportedly stopped identifying participating members or providing detailed reasoning.
• The argument that disclosure may harm candidates’ careers raises a difficult question about the balance between candidate confidentiality and institutional transparency.
• Sensitive personal information can be protected, but the broad criteria and reasoning behind constitutional appointments should remain open to public scrutiny.
• The Supreme Court’s own jurisprudence reinforces this principle. In the MediaOne judgment, it held that excessive secrecy is inconsistent with a transparent and accountable system.
• Similar standards should logically apply to the judiciary’s institutional functioning.

The Concern over Judicial Lineage

• Opacity has fuelled concerns about preferential treatment for relatives of sitting or retired judges, popularly described as Uncle Judges.
• Former Chief Justice R.M. Lodha had also expressed concern about familial connections within the higher judiciary.
• Familial association does not automatically disqualify a candidate, since relatives of judges can possess exceptional merit.
• However, without a publicly defined selection matrix, it becomes difficult to distinguish genuine merit from perceived preferential treatment.
• Enhanced scrutiny of candidates with judicial connections can therefore improve public confidence.

Equality and Constitutional Accountability

• Articles 14 and 16 guarantee equality and equal opportunity in public employment.
• In Secretary, State of Karnataka v. Umadevi (2006), the Court stressed the importance of transparent procedures in public appointments.
• Judicial appointments cannot be reduced to examinations because qualities such as integrity, independence, temperament and judicial ability are difficult to quantify.
• Nevertheless, qualitative assessment does not require procedural opacity. Minimum eligibility standards, professional experience and broad evaluation criteria can provide structure while confidential integrity assessments remain protected.
• In CPIO v. Subhash Chandra Agarwal (2019), the Court also recognised that the CJI’s office falls within the RTI framework, subject to limitations.
• Constitutional authority should therefore coexist with reasonable accountability.

Lessons from Other Democracies

• Other democracies demonstrate that judicial independence and transparency can coexist.
• The United Kingdom publicly advertises judicial vacancies and follows structured selection procedures.
• South Africa’s Judicial Service Commission invites nominations and conducts public interviews.
• India need not replicate foreign systems, but these examples show that publicly understandable appointment procedures can strengthen institutional legitimacy without necessarily compromising judicial independence. 

The Changing Public Sphere

• Social media has transformed democratic scrutiny. Judicial decisions, appointments and remarks by constitutional authorities can receive nationwide attention within minutes.
• The traditional culture of institutional deference is therefore increasingly difficult to sustain.
• Public criticism must not become harassment or intimidation, but constructive criticism is essential to constitutional democracy.
• Contempt powers cannot replace institutional openness. Voluntary reform can strengthen the judiciary’s legitimacy rather than weaken it.

The Way Forward: Reform, Not Retreat

• The answer is not to dismantle the collegium or restore executive dominance. Instead, it requires procedural reform without compromising judicial independence.
• A reformed framework could:
  • Publish anticipated vacancies in advance.
  • Establish objective eligibility criteria.
  • Invite nominations from qualified members of the Bar.
  • Develop transparent standards for evaluating competence and integrity.
  • Provide reasoned explanations for recommendations while protecting sensitive information.
  • Apply enhanced scrutiny to candidates with judicial family connections.
  • Preserve confidentiality for genuinely sensitive integrity and security inputs.
• Such reforms would create transparency of process without sacrificing necessary confidentiality.

Conclusion

• The central debate has moved beyond executive versus judiciary to opacity versus transparency.
• Judicial independence is indispensable, but independence cannot mean immunity from accountability.
• A transparent collegium would not necessarily be weaker. Accountability can reinforce judicial independence by strengthening public trust.
• India therefore needs an appointments system that combines independence with fairness, merit with transparency, and confidentiality with institutional accountability.
• Reforming the collegium in this direction would make judicial power not only independent, but also credible, legitimate and worthy of public confidence.

About Dihing Patkai National Park:

• Located: It is located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of
• It lies in the Dehing Patkai Landscape, which is a dipterocarp-dominated lowland rainforest.
• It is situated at the foothills of Patkai Hill Ranges, on the banks of the River Dehing (Tributary of Brahmaputra), and adjacent to the Namdapha Wildlife Sanctuary.
• It is famous for its largest stretch of tropical lowland rainforests in India.
• It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 2004. In 2020, Government of Assam upgraded it into a national park. 
• Tribal Communities: indigenous Assamese communities, particularly Tai Phake, Khamyang, Khampti, Singpho, Nocte, Ahom, Kaibarta, Moran and Motok, Burmese, and non-indigenous Nepali people.
• Vegetation: The Park is a deciduous rainforest with semi-evergreen and lush green flora.
• Flora: It is dominated by species like Hollong, Nahor, Mekai, Paroli, Simul, various orchids, ferns, cane, and bamboo.
• Fauna: The rich biodiversity includes diverse species such as slow loris, pig-tailed macaque, stump-tailed macaque, capped langur, Indian leopard, Asian elephant, royal Bengal tiger, etc.