Impact of Vocational Training Courses Conducted by Krishi Vigyan Kendras of Punjab on Establishing an Enterprise

The attempts were made to assess the impact of vocational training courses conducted by Krishi Vigyan Kendras of Punjab on establishing an enterprise. All thirty long duration vocational training courses conducted by the Krishi Vigyan Kendras namely Bathinda, Ferozpur, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur and SBS Nagar from 2009-2013 were taken up for the study. A sample of 140 trainees was drawn by applying probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling method and data were collected personally from the selected trainees by using an interview schedule. The findings of the study revealed that the highest adoption status was achieved by value added household products & preparation and garment construction & enrichment training courses with 1.44 & 1.36 mean scores respectively. The lowest mean score of Management of family resources (0.68) and fabric painting & preparation of household products (0.62) indicated the low adoption status of these training courses. Major reasons for non-establishment of an enterprise after receiving training from KVKs as reported by the highest percentage of trainees were financial constraints and high cost of equipments. It can be concluded that the marketing components and linkages related to establishing an enterprise should be an integral part of the vocational training programme. KVKs should provide suitable facilities in the form of resource centre to their trainees for reducing the cost of initial set up of enterprise.