Apprenticeship Training Scheme – Directorate Of Training & Employment

BACKGROUND

Development of human resource is crucial for the industrial development of any nation. Up-gradation of skills is an important component of Human Resource Development. Training imparted in institutions alone is not sufficient for acquisition of skills and needs to be supplemented by training at the workplace. The Apprentices Act, 1961 was enacted with the prime objective to utilize fully the facilities available in industry for imparting practical training with a view to meeting the requirements of skilled manpower for industry. Initially, the Act covered the apprenticeship training for the trade Apprentices and subsequently amended in 1973, 1986 and 2014 to bring the Graduates, Technician, Technician (Vocational) and Optional Trade Apprentices respectively under its purview.

OBJECTIVES

Apprentices Act, 1961 was enacted with the following objectives :–

To regulate the programme of training of apprentices in the industry so as to conform to the prescribed syllabi, period of training etc.as laid down by the Central Apprenticeship Council; and
To utilise the facilities available in industry for imparting practical training with a view to meeting the requirements of skilled manpower for industry.

MONITORING OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ACT

Directorate General of Training under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship monitors the implementation of the Apprentices Act in respect of Trade Apprentices in the Central Government Undertakings & Departments and establishments operating business 4 or more states through six Regional Directorates of Apprenticeship Training (RDAT) located at Chennai, Faridabad, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Kolkata, & Mumbai.
State Apprenticeship Advisers are responsible for implementation of the Act in respect of Trade Apprentices in State Government Undertakings/ Departments and Private Establishments.
Department of Education in the Ministry of Human Resource Development is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Act in respect of Graduate, Technician & Technician (Vocational) Apprentices. This monitoring is done through four Boards of Apprenticeship Training located at Chennai, Kanpur, Kolkata and Mumbai.

FIELDS OF APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING

Apprenticeship training can be provided to apprentices both in designated and optional trades.

- Designated trade (DT)
- Designated Trade means any trade or occupation or any subject field in engineering or non-engineering or technology or any vocational course which the Central Government, after consultation with the Central Apprenticeship Council (CAC), may, notify in the Gazette.
- Duration of apprenticeship training in DT for Industrial Training Institutes‟ (ITIs) pass-out candidates will ordinarily be one (1) year.
- Duration of apprenticeship training in DT for fresher / non-ITI pass-out candidates will ordinarily be two (2) years.

Optional trade (OT)

- Optional Trade means any trade or occupation or any subject field in engineering or non-engineering or technology or any vocational course as may be determined by the employer.
- Duration of apprenticeship training for OT will be six (6) months, nine (9) months, and twelve (12) months.
- In certain cases, the duration can exceed one (1) year, subject to the approval from MSDE.
- Compliance with National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) under NAPS-2 will not be mandatory. However, partial stipend support by the Government to the apprentices will be restricted to NSQF aligned courses.

categories of apprentices

There are six categories of apprentices:

Degree apprentices- (a degree granted by any organisation or university.)
Technician apprentices-(Diploma in any stream.)
Technician (Vocational) apprentices –(Vocational Certificate Holder.)
National or Trade Certificate Holder –(Certificate issued by NCVT or SCV.T)
Skill Certificate Holder –(Certificate of less than 01 year training under NSQF level.)
Fresher Apprentice-(Not gone to any institutional or skill training class V onwards.)

coverage

It is obligatory on the part of employers having manpower strength 30 or more and having requisite training infrastructure as laid down in the Act, to engage apprentices.
Employer shall engage of apprentices in a band of 2.5% to 15% of total manpower strength of the establishments including contractual staff.
The total engagements of apprentices in the band with of 2.5% to 15% subject to minimum 5% of total to be reserved for Fresher or Skill Certificate holder apprentices of the total strength of the workers.
The establishments /Employers can decide the categories of apprentices and trade(s) in which the apprentices to be engaged depending upon the facility available with them for imparting on-the- job training/ practical training at his workplace.

STIPEND

S.No.	Category	Prescribed minimum amount of stipend
1	2	3
(i)	School pass-outs (class 5^th –class 9^th )	Rs.5000 per month
(ii)	School pass-outs (class 10^th )	Rs.6000 per month
(iii)	School pass-outs (class 12^th)	Rs.7000 per month
(iv)	National or State Trade Certificate holder (ITI Passed)	Rs.7700 per month
(v)	Technician apprentices or diploma holder in any stream or sandwich course (students from degree institutions)	Rs.8000 per month
(vi)	Graduate apprentices or degree apprentices or degree in any stream	Rs.9000 per month

Note– 10% increase in stipend for 2^nd year & further 15% increase in stipend for 3^rd year of training.

TRAINING OF TRADE APPRENTICES

Minimum age is 14 years.
Qualifications vary from Class 5’th to 12’th,ITI Pass, Diploma, B.Tech, B.E, B.Sc., B.A, B.Com, or any type of Graduate or Post Graduate Degree.
Period of training varies from 06 months to 3 years.
Training comprises Basic Training and Practical Training followed by Related Instructions as per prescribed syllabus for each trade.
Designated Trade (DT) – 261 trades in 39 trade groups.
Optional Trade (OT) – 570 Courses in 44 Sectors.
Numbers of seats for apprentices are calculated in the band of 2.5% to 15% of the total strength of the workers.
Every apprentice and employer has to enter into a contract of apprenticeship training, which is registered by the Apprenticeship Advisers.
Employers and apprentices have to fulfill their obligations under the Act.

TESTING AND CERTIFICATION OF TRADE APPRENTICES

Trade	Area	Sub Area	Testing Agency	Certification
Designated Trade	Practical	Practical Exam	Employer	National Apprenticeship Certificate (NAC) awarded by DGT.
Optional Trade	Practical Theory	Practical Exam Online Exam	Employer Concerned Sector Skill Council (SSC)	Joint Certification done by SSC and Employer

NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP PROMOTION SCHEME-2 (NAPS -2.0)

NAPS-2.0 aims to promote apprenticeship training in the country, by providing partial stipend support to the apprentices engaged under the Apprentice Act, 1961, undertaking capacity building of the apprenticeship ecosystem, and providing advocacy assistance to the stakeholders.
It builds upon the efforts of the Government of India towards improving ease of doing business by simplifying processes of apprenticeship engagement and further accelerating the momentum created by the previous version of the scheme, i.e., NAPS.

The objectives of NAPS-2.0 are as follows:

To develop skilled workforce for the economy by promotion of on-the-job experiential training.
To encourage establishments to enrol apprentices by sharing partial stipend support to the apprentices.
To provide up-skilling opportunities for candidates who have undergone short-term skill training offered by various Central and State Government initiatives.
To encourage enrolment of apprentices in small establishments especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and those located in the underserved areas such as aspirational districts and North-East Region.

Funding support under NAPS-2.0

Partial stipend support by GoI under NAPS-2.0 will be limited to 25% of stipend paid, up to a maximum of Rs.1,500 per month, per apprentice during the training period.
The stipend support by GoI will be paid through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to the bank account of apprentices.
No stipend support will be available under NAPS-2.0 to the Central and State Government Departments and Central and State Public Sector Undertakings/Enterprises, including Public Sector Banks.
Large private organisations will be encouraged to join a “Give It Up Campaign” and forego the stipend support by GoI under the scheme.

Important links related to NAPS Portal: