Govt earmarks Rs 10,000 crore to train 50 lakh apprentices by 2020

The government has announced the introduction of a National Apprenticeship Promotion scheme on Thursday, for the skill development of apprentices in India.

For the successful implementation, the government has earmarked Rs 10,000 crore for the scheme. 

“It is the first time a scheme has been notified to offer financial incentives to employers. The Scheme has an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore with a target of 50 lakh apprentices to be trained by 2019-20,” Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said in a statement.

In addition to this, the ministry stated that 25% of the prescribed stipend payable to an apprentice would be reimbursed to the employers directly by the Government of India.

Eligible employers shall engage apprentices in a band of 2.5% to 10% of the total strength of the establishment, the Ministry stated.

Brand ambassadors will be appointed for states and for local industrial clusters to act as facilitators and promoters to promote apprenticeship training. 

This is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Skill India programme. 

The scheme also supports basic training of freshers to ensure they have a formal trade training.

An online portal has been set up for the purpose of ease of doing transactions.

“All transactions including registration by employers, apprentices, registration of contract and payment to employers will be made in online mode,” the Ministry stated.

Employers need to register on the apprenticeship portal and must have TIN/ TAN and any one of EPFO/ ESIC/ LIN. 

The government has invited employers to register on the apprenticeship portal to avail benefits under the scheme.

The National Policy of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, focuses on apprenticeship as one of the key components for creating skilled manpower in India.

The policy proposes to work pro-actively with the industry, including MSME, to facilitate ten-fold increase in opportunities in the country by 2020.