The Chief Minister's Office of Uttarakhand announced on Saturday, 11 July 2026 that the state government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, is creating new livelihood opportunities for youth and women by connecting skill development directly to self-employment. The Rural Self-Employment Training Institute (RSETI), Almora is at the centre of this push, running a continuous series of employment-oriented training programmes in the district. The official post stated: 'कौशल विकास को स्वरोजगार से जोड़कर युवाओं और महिलाओं के लिए नए अवसर तैयार किए जा रहे हैं' ('New opportunities are being created for youth and women by linking skill development to self-employment').

Context

RSETI Almora is part of a national network of Rural Self-Employment Training Institutes established from 2009 onwards, set up by banks in coordination with the Ministry of Rural Development. These institutes provide free vocational training designed specifically to help rural participants launch their own enterprises rather than seek wage employment. Almora, located in the Kumaon division of Uttarakhand, is characterised by hilly terrain and a predominantly rural population, making such decentralised training infrastructure especially significant.

Policy Backdrop

Uttarakhand has long grappled with out-migration from its hill districts, as limited local livelihood options push working-age residents toward plains cities. The state's approach of pairing skill training with self-employment pathways aligns with the national Skill India framework launched in 2015, which emphasises enterprise creation alongside employability. RSETIs serve as a decentralised delivery mechanism, taking training directly to rural communities rather than requiring participants to travel to urban centres. CM Dhami's administration has positioned such programmes as a structural response to migration pressure rather than a short-term welfare measure.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are rural youth and women in Almora district and, by extension, across Uttarakhand's hill regions. Women in particular stand to gain from locally accessible training that does not require relocation, addressing both economic and social barriers to workforce participation. Banks sponsoring the RSETI network also benefit from a pipeline of trained, credit-ready micro-entrepreneurs, supporting their priority-sector lending mandates. Local economies in hill districts could see reduced dependence on remittances if self-employment ventures take root at scale.

What's Next

The effectiveness of the programme will ultimately be measured by outcome data — specifically, the rate at which RSETI graduates successfully launch and sustain self-employment ventures. Observers will watch whether the Uttarakhand state budget allocates expanded funding for additional RSETI batches or new institutes in other hill districts. A broader question is whether the skill-to-self-employment model can generate enough local economic momentum to meaningfully slow out-migration from the Kumaon and Garhwal regions over the coming years.