Sri Vijaya Puram, Aug. 27: A new NITI Aayog roadmap calling for skill-development programmes to be judged by employment and income outcomes rather than the number of people trained has put the spotlight on Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where several skilling initiatives are underway even as unemployment remains significantly higher than the national average.
Andaman and Nicobar recorded an unemployment rate of 10 percent in 2025, the highest among states and Union Territories, compared with 3.1 percent nationally, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
The numbers assume significance as the Union Territory has expanded vocational and skill-development programmes in recent years, including the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) and the locally introduced Dakshata programme.
Under PMKVY, 648 candidates were trained in Andaman and Nicobar in FY24 and 909 in FY25, according to government data. In FY25, 600 of those candidates were trained in North and Middle Andaman and 309 in South Andaman.
However, publicly available government data do not provide a consolidated picture of how many people trained under different schemes in the Islands subsequently found sustained employment, what they earned or whether they found jobs corresponding to their training.
It is this gap between training and employment that NITI Aayog’s “Reimagining Skilling for Viksit Bharat@2047”, released in August, seeks to address nationally.
The report argues that India’s skilling system needs to move beyond training and certification numbers and focus more closely on whether people find employment, improve their earnings and progress professionally.
Jobs Remain Challenge
The issue is particularly relevant for Andaman and Nicobar because the Islands have continued to add skilling programmes even as employment opportunities remain constrained by the relatively small local economy.
Dakshata, launched by the administration in April 2025, sought to provide vocational and life skills through nine colleges and institutions and 38 schools. Courses covered areas including artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, financial literacy and fire safety.
At Andaman College, 79 students completed courses under the first phase of Dakshata, including Tally with GST and IT professional skills. Its second phase for 2026-27 has expanded into business analytics with AI, data analytics, tourism and income-tax practice.
The Union Territory also has vocational training infrastructure at Dollygunj, Bakultala and Car Nicobar, while apprenticeship programmes have been offered by government organisations.
The Directorate of Shipping Services, for instance, advertised 16 graduate and diploma apprenticeship positions for 2025-26 across mechanical, electrical and electronics and communication engineering.
NITI Aayog has identified apprenticeships and work-based learning as important ways of reducing the gap between classroom training and the requirements of employers.
The report has also called for states to play a larger role in designing skilling programmes around local labour-market requirements instead of relying on a uniform approach across the country.
That could have particular implications for Andaman and Nicobar, where geography, a small domestic market and the absence of a large industrial base limit the range of employment available locally.
Government employment has traditionally remained an important source of stable jobs in the Islands, but recruitment cannot absorb everyone entering the workforce. The ability of the private sector and self-employment to create additional livelihoods therefore becomes critical.
The 10 percent unemployment rate does not establish that existing skilling programmes have been unsuccessful. Dakshata, for instance, was launched only last year, while the available data do not establish the employment outcomes of all those trained under PMKVY and other programmes.
It does, however, raise questions about whether the expansion of training is being matched by a corresponding expansion in employment opportunities.
Skills Meet Economy
NITI Aayog’s roadmap calls for skilling to be aligned more closely with sectors where employment demand is emerging, an approach that could bring the Islands’ economic priorities into sharper focus.
Tourism and hospitality, fisheries and aquaculture, maritime services, healthcare, logistics and digital services are among sectors with potential relevance for Andaman and Nicobar.
The Islands’ maritime location also makes the blue economy an important potential source of employment. Fisheries, aquaculture, marine tourism and maritime services, however, require specialised skills and closer involvement of employers in training.
Tourism presents a similar issue. As the sector expands beyond conventional hospitality, demand could increasingly extend to areas such as destination management, eco-tourism, marine and adventure activities and digital tourism services.
NITI Aayog has recommended greater industry participation in curriculum design and apprenticeships so that training reflects actual workforce requirements.
The report also sees technology as a way of widening the geographical reach of employment. Its proposals include Digital Skills Passports and greater adoption of skills-based hiring, which could make qualifications and capabilities more easily visible to employers.
For Andaman and Nicobar, digital and remote employment could potentially allow some skilled workers to access employers outside the Islands without relocating to the mainland.
The larger issue, however, remains whether the Union Territory has enough information to match the skills it is creating with the jobs its economy needs.
Data on vacancies, employer requirements, placement outcomes, salaries after training and the movement of young Islanders to mainland jobs could help establish where that mismatch exists.
For Andaman and Nicobar, NITI Aayog’s new roadmap therefore puts a different measure of success on the table.
The number of people trained remains important. But with unemployment at 10 percent in 2025, the more consequential number will be how many of them actually find work.
