CII organizes Workshop on Apprenticeship Guidelines in Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar, Sep 17: Advancing Prime Minister Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India’ & ‘Skilling India’, a workshop was organized by Confederation of Indian Industry on Wednesday in Bhubaneswar, Odisha as a part of national awareness campaign on implementation of (amended) apprenticeship guidelines training amongst all stakeholders, particularly Industry.
Ms Sandhya Salwan, Director (Apprentice Training), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India clarified that the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship is the administrative entity for apprenticeship training. She expressed that the Government is working towards higher participation of women in the skilled workforce through establishment of two apprenticeship training institutes in the country.
The Apprenticeship Act of 1961 has been amended to address the immediate concerns within the skill eco-system, making it more responsive to the Industry and the youth. He mentioned the key features of the amendments, such as: Number of apprentices at establishment level instead of trade-wise; engagement of apprentices in optional trades which are not designated; inclusion of non-engineering occupations; outsourcing of basic training to another institute; submission of returns and other information through online portal.
She added that the minimum rate of stipend per month payable to the trade apprentices has been indexed to minimum wage of semi-skilled worker, starting at 70% of that minimum wage in first year, 80% in the second year and going up to 90% in third and fourth year which attracts more number of youth to join apprenticeship.
Mr Jayant Krishna, Principal Consultant & Regional Head- Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Lead- Task Force on Apprenticeship Reforms, CII & Chairperson, Special Taskforce on Apprenticeship Rationalization, MSDE stated, India has very less number of apprentices, whereas other world leaders such as Germany, China, Japan has manifold trained apprenticeship than India. More apprentices India have, Productivity of establishments will rise accordingly.
Mr Sanjay Pattnaik, Vice Chairman, CII Odisha State Council & Executive Director, Tata Sponge Iron Ltd, applauded the Government for its new initiatives including the Apprenticeship Protsahan Yojna and Apprenticeship (amended) Act 2014. He mentioned that there is a need for higher participation of industry to popularize the scheme and for greater number of apprenticeship training.