Morigaon’s District Level Review and Advisory Committee (DLRAC) has critically reviewed the performance of the Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETI) for the quarters ending December 2025 and March 2026, strongly emphasising that skill development programmes must directly translate into meaningful employment and self-employment opportunities for trainees. District Commissioner Anamika Tewari chaired the meeting, directing RSETI authorities to enhance coordination with the District Employment Office and actively explore placement opportunities for trained candidates.
The directive underscores the district administration’s sharpened focus on tangible outcomes from skill training, aiming to significantly boost local livelihoods and address unemployment challenges among rural youth in Morigaon. This strategic push is expected to foster greater accountability in skill development initiatives, ensuring they contribute effectively to economic empowerment in the region.
What was announced
The DLRAC meeting was convened on Wednesday at the conference hall of the District Commissioner’s Office in Morigaon. Chaired by District Commissioner Anamika Tewari, the session specifically assessed the performance of PNB-RSETI Morigaon for the financial year 2025-26.
During the review, Commissioner Tewari issued several key directives. She instructed RSETI authorities to strengthen their coordination with the District Employment Office to actively explore and secure placement opportunities for candidates who complete their training. Furthermore, she stressed the imperative for incorporating internships, facilitating field exposure visits, and forging stronger linkages with various industries to enhance the employability of trainees and provide them with practical workplace experience.
Tewari also urged banks to simplify and expedite the loan processing for unemployed youth who have successfully completed RSETI training and are seeking financial assistance to launch their own entrepreneurial ventures. For driving-related training programmes, she directed the RSETI Director to ensure the issuance of learner’s licences to successful trainees upon course completion, aiming to improve employment prospects in the transport sector.
Earlier in the meeting, Purnananda Pegu, Director of PNB-RSETI Morigaon, presented a detailed report on the institute’s performance during the review period. He informed the committee that the institute conducted 31 training programmes and trained 1,024 candidates during the financial year 2025-26, achieving nearly 90 per cent of its annual target. According to the report, 990 of these trainees belonged to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, with women constituting a significant majority of the participants.
Why it matters
The renewed emphasis on employment and self-employment outcomes by the Morigaon DLRAC is crucial for the district’s rural youth, ensuring that skill development initiatives translate into sustainable livelihoods rather than merely providing certificates. This focus directly addresses the challenge of unemployment and underemployment, particularly among the economically vulnerable sections of society.
By directing RSETI to enhance coordination with the District Employment Office and forge stronger industry linkages, the administration aims to create a more robust ecosystem for job placements. The push for internships and field exposure is vital for equipping trainees with practical, real-world experience, making them more attractive to potential employers.
Furthermore, the call to banks to streamline loan processing for RSETI-trained entrepreneurs is a significant step towards fostering self-employment and micro-enterprise development. This financial support is often a critical missing link for many aspiring entrepreneurs from rural backgrounds, enabling them to convert their skills into viable businesses and contribute to the local economy. The initiative to facilitate learner’s licences for driving course trainees also opens immediate avenues for employment in a high-demand sector.
The DLRAC’s directives are expected to enhance the effectiveness of RSETI programmes in Morigaon, ensuring that public resources allocated for skill development yield tangible socio-economic benefits for the community. This aligns with broader state and national objectives of empowering rural populations through skill acquisition and entrepreneurship.
Background
The Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) scheme is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India, designed to address rural unemployment and promote self-employment. Established in partnership with sponsor banks and state governments, RSETIs operate with the core objective of identifying, training, motivating, and facilitating unemployed rural youth to take up self-employment ventures.
These institutes offer free, short-term, residential skill development training programmes, primarily targeting youth aged 18 to 50 years, with a special focus on those from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. The training curriculum is demand-driven, covering various sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, services, and includes entrepreneurship development programmes (EDPs). A key differentiator of RSETIs is their commitment to providing post-training handholding support for at least two years to ensure the sustainability of micro-enterprises established by trainees.
Nationally, the RSETI network is extensive, with 632 operational RSETIs across 619 districts in 27 States and six Union Territories as of January 31, 2026. These institutes are typically managed by lead banks in each district. Since its inception, the scheme has trained approximately 60.04 lakh candidates, with 43.53 lakh beneficiaries successfully settled. Notably, about 94 per cent of the settled candidates have established their own self-employment ventures, while around six per cent have secured wage or salaried employment.
Performance and credit linkage issues of RSETIs are regularly reviewed in District Level Review Committee (DLRC) and State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) meetings, as well as in DLRAC meetings, ensuring continuous monitoring and support. The Ministry of Rural Development also conducts periodic national-level reviews to assess settlement outcomes and overall performance.
In Assam, skill development and employment generation are also actively promoted through initiatives like the Assam Skill Development Mission (ASDM), which aims to make youth employable and create self-employment opportunities. The ASDM facilitates short-term skill development training to address skill gaps and has a long-term objective of optimising the state’s human resources to combat unemployment and poverty.
However, independent evaluations have highlighted challenges. A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report in early 2025 noted gaps in post-training placement rates in Assam, with many trained beneficiaries struggling to secure stable income-generating opportunities. This underscores the importance of the Morigaon DLRAC’s current emphasis on ensuring tangible employment and self-employment outcomes from RSETI programmes.
Key details
District Commissioner Anamika Tewari’s directives during the DLRAC meeting in Morigaon outlined specific actions for the Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETI) and other stakeholders. A primary instruction was to enhance coordination between RSETI authorities and the District Employment Office to streamline efforts in identifying and securing placement opportunities for trained candidates.
The Commissioner also underscored the critical need for RSETI to integrate practical exposure into its training modules. This includes facilitating internships for trainees, organising field exposure visits to relevant industries or businesses, and actively building stronger linkages with the industry sector. These measures are intended to provide trainees with hands-on experience and make them more readily employable.
Furthermore, Tewari urged companies recruiting RSETI-trained candidates to provide suitable accommodation facilities where necessary, acknowledging the practical challenges faced by new recruits. For individuals undergoing driving-related training, the RSETI Director was instructed to ensure the prompt issuance of learner’s licences upon successful completion of their courses, thereby expediting their entry into the workforce.
Another significant directive was aimed at financial institutions. Banks were urged to simplify and expedite the process of sanctioning and disbursing loans to unemployed youth who have completed RSETI training and applied for financial assistance to establish their own ventures. This aims to remove bureaucratic hurdles that often deter aspiring entrepreneurs.
The meeting also highlighted RSETI Morigaon’s performance for the 2025-26 financial year, reporting 31 training programmes conducted and 1,024 candidates trained, achieving nearly 90 per cent of its annual target. A substantial majority, 990 trainees, were from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, with women forming a significant portion of the participants.
Reactions
“Skill development programmes serve limited purpose if trainees are unable to secure employment or establish their own enterprises after completing training,” District Commissioner Anamika Tewari said, underscoring the need for training initiatives to lead to placement, entrepreneurship, and sustainable livelihood generation.
“Livelihood generation should remain the central objective of all training initiatives,” Tewari added, calling for special efforts to bring eligible school dropout youth into skill development programmes and emphasising the importance of post-training support, including accommodation facilities from recruiting companies.
Purnananda Pegu, Director of PNB-RSETI Morigaon, presented the detailed performance report for the institute during the review period.
What’s next
Following the directives from District Commissioner Anamika Tewari, RSETI authorities in Morigaon are expected to initiate immediate steps to strengthen coordination with the District Employment Office and actively pursue placement opportunities for trained candidates. The emphasis will be on developing robust industry linkages and integrating internships and field exposure into existing training modules.
Banks in the district are also anticipated to review and streamline their loan processing mechanisms for RSETI-trained youth, ensuring timely access to credit for self-employment ventures. The RSETI Director will work towards facilitating the issuance of learner’s licences for driving course participants.
The progress on these directives and the overall employment outcomes of RSETI programmes will likely be subject to continuous monitoring and review in subsequent DLRAC meetings, ensuring accountability and sustained focus on the objective of livelihood generation.