Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) is the flagship placement linked skill-training programme under the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).There are several challenges that are preventing India’s rural poor from competing such as the lack of formal education and employability skills. DDU-GKY bridges this gap by funding training projects with an emphasis on placement, retention, career progression and foreign placement.The mission of the flagship scheme of MoRD is to ensure rural poor youth are skilled in market relevant trades and job-relevant competencies.One of the ways in which DDU-GKY aims to achieve this is through the“Champion Employers” policy.The Champion Employers are the industry leaders who have the potential to provide training and captive employment to the DDU-GKY candidates.The policy seeks a strategic alignment of objectives of DDU-GKY with the HR strategy of organizations, which have a large potential to absorb trained manpower.Today, MoRD signed MOU with Maruti Suzuki India Ltd for training rural youth for skill development in presence of Hon’ble Minister Shri. Narendra Singh Tomar. This partnership between the government and the leading industry from the automotive sector will provide training to atleast 5000 candidates in two years with assured placement to the rural youth of our country.