25-Jul-2022: National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme
The National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), launched in August 2016, aims to promote apprenticeship training in the country by providing stipend support to the apprentices, undertake capacity building of the apprenticeship ecosystem and provide advocacy assistance to support rapid growth. Further, the objectives of the NAPS are as under:
- To develop skilled manpower for the industry by promotion of on-the-job experiential training.
- To encourage establishments to enroll apprentices by sharing partial stipend support to the apprentices.
- To provide up-skilling opportunities for candidates who have undergone short-term skill training.
- To encourage enrolment of apprentices in small establishments (MSMEs), and those located in underserved areas like in aspirational districts and in North-East region.
The total number of apprentices engaged since inception of NAPS is around 13.38 lakh.
Instead of reimbursement of stipends (25% or Rs. 1,500 whichever is less) to the establishment, it is proposed to transfer the amount to the bank account of apprentices by the Government under Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme (DBT). A pilot DBT in this regard was conducted in June, 2022, which will be scaled up to the full scale.
Apprenticeship training is one of the key components for creating skilled manpower in India and contributes to make India ‘Skill capital of the world’. Various reforms, including amendments in 2014 to the Apprentices Act, 1961 and the Rules in 2019 and launch of NAPS, have been carried out to facilitate the establishments to engage more number of apprentices. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has taken many steps, in consultation with various stakeholders, to simplify the portal and the processes and to revise the NAPS guidelines to bring increase in the number of establishments and apprentices. All these have led to increase in the number of apprentices from 2.90 lakh in 2020-21 to 5.8 lakh in 2021-22 and expenditure from Rs. 120 crore to Rs 217 crore during the same period. During the current year, the number of apprentices is expected to reach 10 lakh. Towards this, the government is organizing 250 apprenticeship awareness workshops and monthly apprenticeship mela throughout the country to create awareness about the apprenticeship among the students and the establishments and to create opportunities for apprenticeship for youth.
Currently, two apprenticeship schemes are in implementation, namely, National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education (MoE) and National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) by MSDE. While NATS implements apprenticeship training for engineering graduates, diploma holders and general steam graduates; NAPS is for the rest of the categories of apprentices. Efforts have been taken to bring convergence between the two schemes. Further, UGC has framed guidelines for Higher Education Institutions to offer apprenticeship/ internship-embedded degree/diploma programmes to focus on development of knowledge, skills, aptitude and on-the-job training with industry exposure to enhance job orientation and employability of the graduates/undergraduates students. All the above schemes and programme focus towards specific target group of candidates with intent to bridge the skill gap by imparting on-the-job training and make them Industry-ready and employable.
14-Mar-2022: Apprenticeship Scheme
The retail, logistics, healthcare and all other sectors have the flexibility in conducting on-the-job (OJT) training. Minimum hours of training per week can range from 42 to 48 hours. OJT work timings can also be made flexible by obtaining the prior approval of the concerned Apprenticeship Advisor.
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) implements “National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS)” and the Department of Higher Education (DHE), Ministry of Education (MoE) implements “National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS)”. However, both schemes are not overlapping as there is a clear demarcation in target group of beneficiaries. DHE, MoE administers the apprenticeship scheme of freshly passed-out engineering graduates, diploma holders, those students who are studying degree and diploma level courses in sandwich program of engineering, and general stream graduates. MSDE administers apprenticeship program for the rest of the categories of apprentices.
2-Mar-2020: 8.16 lakh candidates benefit from National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme
The Government of India launched “National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme” (NAPS) in August,2016 with stipend support and sharing of the cost of basic training with a cumulative target of training 50 lakh youth during Financial Year 2016-17 to 2019-20. Following are the details of financial support components under NAPS:
- Stipend support : reimbursement of 25% of prescribed stipend subject to a maximum of Rs 1500/- per month per apprentice with employers. The stipend support would not be given during the basic training period for fresher apprentices.
- Sharing of cost of Basic Training: @ Rs7500/- for a maximum of 3 months or 500 hours in respect of apprentices who come directly to apprenticeship training without any formal trade training. The government is not providing any supplementary fiscal assistance to the States to make NAPS more fruitful.
12-May-2022: Skill India International Centre to be set up at Varanasi to prepare skilled workforce for mobility to UAE
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was exchanged between NSDC International (NSDCI) and the Indian unit of DP World, Hindustan Ports Private Limited to develop a Skill India International Centre at Varanasi and to skill Indian youth for pursuing overseas employment opportunities in logistics, port operations and allied areas. Skill India International Centre at Varanasi will impart skilling as per international standards, preparing the candidates for global markets. The MoU was exchanged between Shri Ved Mani Tiwari, Director, NSDC International and Mohammed Al Muallem, Executive Vice President, DP World and Director, HPPL in the presence of Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Education & Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; Shri Rajeev Chandrasekar, Minister of State for Skill Development& Entrepreneurship; Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship & SMEs, UAE; Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, MSDE; Shri Sunjay Sudhir, Ambassador of India to UAE and Rizwan Soomar, CEO and Managing Director, DP World subcontinent.
Shri Dharmendra Pradhan underscored that India is a valuable partner to United Arab Emirates and other countries across the world. He mentioned that the Government is working to fulfill the aspirations of India’s youth and prepare them for the future of work. The Government is creating a reliable, qualified and an able workforce that will drive economic success, not only for India but for other economies of the world too. He further highlighted that with the existing strong ties between India and the UAE, this will be yet another successful partnership that will deepen our relationship. Skill India Mission aims to bring economic prosperity and provide novel opportunities to the country’s youth.
Emphasizing the importance of skilled professionals in UAE, Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi said that this association will help accelerate skills development amongst both countries youth and will be beneficial in addressing and meeting the emerging skills needed by both economies labor markets. He congratulated both NSDCI and DP World for this intent of cooperation to build a future ready skilled workforce. This Memorandum of Understanding will further strengthen the relationship between UAE and India and help enhance workforce productivity, he added.
The MoU signing was preceded by bilateral discussions chaired by Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship & SMEs, UAE. They explored ways to further invigorate bilateral engagements in skill development & entrepreneurship and to take the India-UAE CEPA to unprecedented heights. The two sides agreed to develop and strengthen comprehensive institutional framework for engaging all relevant stakeholders to scale up skills-based cooperation, including in up-skilling of workforce, training of trainers, facilitating exchange programmes and apprenticeship engagement. Recognition of certificates issued by Indian Skilling Centres in UAE and renewal of G-to-G mechanism between Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, GOI & National Qualifications Authority, UAE were also discussed for liberalising the process of assessment and certification of Indian workforce and to ensure greater mobility for them.
Skill India International Centres are aimed at providing high-quality training to Indian youth. The centres will host training facilities, providing skills as per the demand of international employers in countries like United Arab Emirates (UAE), Canada, Australia and other GCC regions. The Skill India International Centres will also have a wide network of partnering organisations and overseas recruiters to facilitate supply of skilled and certified workforce in other countries. These partnering organisations will work with NSDCI for aggregating demand from overseas markets. The centres will have services such as mobilisation, counselling, skill training, pre-departure orientation, foreign language training, placement and immigration and post-placement support.
About NSDC International Limited (NSDCI): NSDC International Ltd. is a subsidiary of National Skill Development Corporation that is driving Skill India International Mission of making India the Skill Capital of the World. The vision is to transform India as a preferred partner country for sourcing skilled and certified workforce across the globe. Its objective is to be create an internationally benchmarked quality skills ecosystem and cements its position as a global supplier for quality talent. It offers global job opportunities for resident Indians and global career mobility for overseas Indians.
About DP World: Hindustan Ports Private Limited is part of DP World, a leading provider of worldwide smart end-to-end supply chain logistics, enabling the flow of trade across the globe. Its comprehensive range of products and services covers every link of the integrated supply chain – from maritime and inland terminals to marine services, rail network and economic zones as well as technology-driven customer solutions. Wherever DP World operates, it integrates sustainability and responsible corporate citizenship into its activities, striving for a positive contribution to the economies and communities.
5-May-2022: Over 51, 000 frontline Railway Staff trained under Mission Rail Karmayogi
More than 51000 frontline Railway Staff have been trained under Mission Rail Karmayogi. These employees have been trained by ‘Master Trainers’ who themselves have been trained at the Indian Railways Institute of Transport Management (IRITM), a Centralised Training Institute under the Ministry of Railways.
The training of the Master Trainers has started at IRITM from 28th February, 2022. Each batch at Indian Railways Institute of Transport Management (IRITM) has Master Trainers from seven divisions of different zones. Till now, 8 batches of Master Trainers comprising 49 divisions (more than half of IR divisions) have been covered and the 8th batch is currently receiving training at IRITM. These Master Trainers have already trained more than 51,000 field trainees in the field.
Mission Karmayogi was launched on September 20, 2020, by the Government of India as one of the most significant capacity building initiatives anywhere in the world. Ministry of Railways was the first to respond to the Prime Minister's call for change in the attitudes and skillset of Government employees. Experts in capacity building and behavioral transformation have been roped in to develop customized texts and audio-visual content to impart the training. The extensive use of information technology is envisaged as a game-changer as it would ensure 'any time, any place and any device learning' while maintaining strict norms for monitoring and assessment.
The project seeks to train about one lakh frontline Railway Staff in a six months period. The objective of the Mission Rail Karmayogi is to transform the outlook of these Frontline staff by providing citizen centric training- firstly helping them develop the “intention to serve” and secondly building their “ability to serve”. It has been designed to play a big role in improving their individual performances as well as strengthen the image of the organization as responsive and efficient.
One thousand identified frontline Railway employees, nominated from all 68 divisions of the Railways, would be trained as 'Master Trainers' at the Indian Railways Institute of Transport Management (IRITM), a Centralised Training Institute under the Ministry of Railways. These 'Master Trainers' would further train the remaining railway employees in the field in a time-bound manner. All trained employees would be assessed using a state-of-the-art technology platform and will be duly certified. The developed course content would also be onboarded on iGoT, the online training platform of Government of India, for training the Railway personnel in subsequent years.