NEW DELHI: Demanding a thorough investigation into “betrayal of youth”, Congress on Monday claimed that the CAG has exposed a “massive scam” in the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) which runs into thousands of crores with alleged fake beneficiaries and absentee trainers.Congress leader and former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan said the recent CAG report on PMKVY from 2015 to 2022 found that the govt distributed Rs 10,000 crore in the seven years, but 94.5% of beneficiaries’ bank accounts turned out to be fake, 96% had fake mobile numbers, and 97% had fraud assessor details. He said information about 61 lakh trainers under the scheme was incomplete.Interestingly, Gopinathan said that the CAG found that one crore persons who completed the training under the scheme had the same email and mobile phone numbers.Quoting the CAG report, he said the audit, which examined PMKVY 2.0 and PMKVY 3.0, including short-term training, recognition of prior learning, and special projects — revealed weak oversight, widespread data manipulation, financial mismanagement, and violations of basic eligibility norms.According to Gopinathan, an analysis of nearly 60.7 lakh candidates in roles requiring education above Class 9 showed that education data of around 6.8 lakh candidates was missing, while nearly 8.1 lakh candidates did not meet minimum educational criteria. Out of a little over 1.2 lakh candidates certified for roles requiring prior technical education, a high 85.4% had only basic literacy or general education.
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