India, March 18 -- A parliamentary panel has raised concerns that candidates trained under the fourth edition of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) are failing to meet prescribed competency standards, doubting their employability and the effectiveness of training under the flagship skill development and entrepreneurship ministry scheme.

In its report on the ministry's demand for grants presented in Parliament on Tuesday, the panel recommended an independent evaluation of the programme to assess whether high drop out rates and failures in assessment point to deeper systemic issues, including poor quality of training, gaps in implementation, or inadequate focus on employment outcomes.

The ministry launched the first edition o...