Block Level Institute for Rural Skill Acquisition (BIRSA)

What is BIRSA in Jharkhand?

Block Level Institute for Rural Skill Acquisition, known across the state simply as BIRSA, is the block-level skill training programme of the Government of Jharkhand. BIRSA is run by the Jharkhand Skill Development Mission Society (JSDMS) under the Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development Department, and it forms one of the four components of the state's umbrella skilling programme, Mukhyamantri Sarthi Yojana.

BIRSA exists because of a simple geographic problem. Until BIRSA was launched, almost every recognised skill training centre in Jharkhand sat in a district headquarters or a large town. A young person in a remote block of Simdega, Latehar or Sahibganj had to leave home, arrange lodging and pay for daily travel before a single class began. According to the Jharkhand Skill Development Mission Society, BIRSA moves the training centre itself down to the block, so that a candidate can walk or take a short shared ride to class and return home the same day.

Main features of BIRSA

• BIRSA is planned for all 264 blocks across the 24 districts of Jharkhand. The first phase opened centres in 80 blocks.
• Training is free of cost to the candidate; the state pays empanelled training service providers.
• Courses are aligned to NSQF Levels I, II and III, so the certificate is nationally recognised.
• The initial annual target when BIRSA started was 40,000 rural youth.
• Soft skills and basic IT training are built into every course under the Sarthi umbrella, not offered as optional extras.

The transliterated Hindi name, Birsa Prakhand Star Gramin Kaushal Arjan Sansthan, appears on many block noticeboards; both names refer to the same programme, which carries the name of Bhagwan Birsa Munda.

Who is eligible for BIRSA?

You can enrol if:

• You are a resident of Jharkhand, ideally from the block or a neighbouring block of the BIRSA centre.
• You are aged 18 to 35 years. For SC, ST and OBC candidates the upper age limit is relaxed to 50 years.
• You are unemployed or underemployed and looking for wage employment or self-employment.
• You meet the minimum educational qualification of the specific NSQF course you pick, typically class 8 or class 10.
• You hold an Aadhaar card and a bank account so allowances can be paid by direct benefit transfer.

You are not eligible if:

• You are below 18 years of age on the date of enrolment.
• You are above 35, and you do not belong to SC, ST or OBC, in which case the 50-year relaxation does not apply to you.
• You are not a resident of Jharkhand. BIRSA is funded from state resources and is restricted to state residents.
• You have already been certified in the same trade at the same NSQF level under a government skilling scheme. Repeat certification at the same level is not funded again.
• You are in regular salaried employment and are therefore not the intended beneficiary of an employment-linked training subsidy.

Candidates who fall outside the age band should look at the other Sarthi components: EXCEL, for example, is designed around college students who have passed class 12.

What documents are required for BIRSA?

How to apply for BIRSA training

1. Find your block's BIRSA centre. Ask at the Block Development Office or the Prakhand Karyalaya for the name and address of the empanelled training service provider running the BIRSA centre in your block. Centres are also listed by the Jharkhand Skill Development Mission Society at jsdm.jharkhand.gov.in.
2. Check the current batch and course list. Each centre runs a fixed set of NSQF-aligned courses. Confirm the trade, the batch start date, the course duration and the minimum qualification before you commit.
3. Collect and self-attest your documents. Take your Aadhaar card, residence certificate, age proof, educational certificate, bank passbook and two photographs. Carry the caste certificate if you are using the relaxed age limit and the disability certificate if you are claiming the higher allowance.
4. Fill the enrolment form at the centre. The training service provider records your details in the JSDMS system and issues you a candidate ID. Keep this ID; every later query about attendance, allowance or certificate needs it.
5. Complete counselling and biometric registration. Attendance in most centres is captured biometrically, so your Aadhaar must authenticate successfully on day one.
6. Attend the full course and sit the assessment. Certification and the post-training employment allowance both depend on completing the required training hours and passing the third-party assessment.

You can also start the process at a Pragya Kendra (Common Service Centre), where the operator will help you assemble documents and locate the nearest BIRSA centre. There is no charge for enrolment itself.

How much money does a BIRSA trainee receive?

BIRSA training is free, and the money a trainee receives comes from the allowance structure of Mukhyamantri Sarthi Yojana:

• Pariwahan Bhatta (transport allowance): Rs 1,000 per month for non-residential trainees, to cover the cost of travelling to the block centre.
• Rojgar Protsahan Bhatta (employment allowance): paid if a certified trainee is still unplaced after training. Rs 1,000 per month for men and Rs 1,500 per month for women, persons with disabilities and transgender candidates, for a period of up to one year.

Both allowances are paid by direct benefit transfer to the Aadhaar-seeded bank account. Residential trainees receive boarding and lodging instead of a transport allowance.

How to check your BIRSA status and allowance

1. Note your candidate ID from the enrolment acknowledgement.
2. Ask the training service provider at the block centre for your attendance and assessment status. The centre can see your record in the JSDMS system.
3. For allowance payments, check the bank passbook or SMS alerts on the mobile number linked to your Aadhaar.
4. If the allowance has not arrived a month after certification, escalate to the District Skill Development Officer at the district headquarters.

Why BIRSA applications and allowances get rejected

• Age outside the band, the single most common rejection, especially for general-category candidates over 35 who assume the 50-year limit applies to everyone.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, so the DBT allowance fails.
• Biometric authentication failure, which stops attendance from being recorded and can invalidate the training hours.
• Incomplete attendance — falling short of the mandated training hours makes a candidate ineligible for assessment and for the employment allowance.
• No Jharkhand residence certificate, or a certificate in a different name spelling from Aadhaar.
• Claiming the employment allowance while employed. Placement records are cross-checked; a placed candidate is not entitled to the unemployment allowance.

Where to complain about a BIRSA centre

Complaints about a training service provider, a demand for money, a centre that is not running classes, or an allowance not paid: should go first to the District Skill Development Officer in your district, and then to the Jharkhand Skill Development Mission Society, Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development Department, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. Mukhyamantri Sarthi Yojana also operates a call centre for programme information and grievance resolution, publicised at the training centres.

BIRSA enrolment is free. No training provider, agent or middleman is permitted to charge a candidate for admission, for a certificate, or for "arranging" the allowance.