Newdelhi: The Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will launch the National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme in New Delhi this evening. This scheme is likely to benefit about one million young men and women in the next 12 months. The Finance Minister had first announced the scheme in parliament in his budget speech for this fiscal, and set aside a provision of 1,000 crore rupees towards this. The minister said the National Skill Development Corp will set the curriculum and standards for training in different skills and any institution or body may offer training courses. Upon completion the candidate then has to take a test conducted by authorised agencies.

Chidambaram had said that upon passing the test, the candidate will be given a certificate as well as a monetary reward of an average of 10,000 rupees per candidate.

In his Independence Day address yesterday, the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh promised a new scheme soon, targeting some one million beneficiaries, under which trained youth will get some form of financial assistance.