Responding to India's continuing employment crisis, despite high rates of economic growth, the Skill India policy enacted in 2009, and re-enacted in 2014 as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), was designed to train both rural and urban youth, who have high school diplomas or college degrees, in vocational skills. Skirting the issue of the lack of growth of jobs in India, the purpose of Skill India was to prepare a young workforce to meet the needs of the emerging urban economy, particularly the service sector, which leads economic growth in the current phase. This paradigm of creating a workforce, rather than work, speaks to several critical debates framing India's development; thus, a central question that has been asked is, can services indeed lead to growth in the context of a labour surplus economy? This question becomes moot given that the growth of jobs in services has been mainly in the lower rungs, or in low-value-added work. Service jobs at lower levels are typically in the informal sector with low salaries and unprotected tenures. Finally, if skills are seen as the bridge that will bring unemployed rural youth into the fold of cities, the validity of this vision is deeply challenged given the low quality of jobs and lives that the urban informal sector offers, often compelling young men and women to return to their villages. Youth have turned their backs on agriculture but remain deeply connected to their rural roots, not only as home but as a possible place from where better lives can be built if sustainable work can be found. It is in this space that the Skill India policy falters.