Analyzing the Popularity and Perceived Efficacy of Skill India (2015–2025) among Generation Z

Abstract

Contemporary Indian politics is increasingly shaped by online activism, influencer-driven communication, and gamified civic engagement. Issue-based mobilisation and analytics-driven messaging have become central to political strategy, with parties and  policymakers recalibrating manifestos in response to the sentiments expressed by voters on social media. Political stakeholders have progressively leveraged demographic and gender dividends to further electoral goals — the Ladli Behna Yojana, targeted at women, and the PM Internship Scheme, targeted at youth, both illustrate how public policy has become a deliberate instrument for securing electoral outcomes. Demographic segments, in particular, hold the potential to determine the balance of political power. During the 2019 Lok Sabha election, approximately 84 million citizens voted for the first time; this number grew by close to 25 percent in the 2024 general election. Consequently, first-time voters in the 18–21 age bracket have become a decisive constituency, and political stakeholders — parties, leaders, and policymakers alike — are increasingly shaping their platforms around youth aspirations. Skill India, a flagship policy conceived to bridge India's skills gap, exemplifies this alignment between welfare policy and youth aspiration. The initiative completed a decade of implementation in 2025. It seeks to instil employable skills across three population segments: individuals entering the workforce for the first time, those already employed in the organised sector, and those engaged in the unorganised sector. The Mission was launched with the ambitious target of imparting skill training to 500 million people by 2022. Beyond assessing the popularity and perceived efficacy of Skill India, the present study also examines the policy as a vehicle of political ambition in relation to the first-time voter. Because Skill India operates centrally within the 18–22 age segment, its visibility and credibility among first-time voters assumes particular significance. Employing a structured survey administered  to undergraduate, postgraduate, and research students at a private university in the National Capital Region, this study investigates the extent to which first-time voters are aware of the Skill India Mission, how they perceive its efficacy, and whether such perceptions are likely to influence electoral behaviour. The findings indicate a moderate level of awareness coupled  with a fair, if qualified, perception of policy efficacy. Respondents overwhelmingly indicated that their voting decisions would be shaped by tangible policy outcomes rather than by the sophistication of policy communication, underscoring a generational preference for substantive delivery over symbolic messaging.