Context :
India: Govt eases
apprenticeship rules for India Inc / Eco
Times /
04 March 2022
Extract :
The government has
simplified half-a-dozen procedures for India Inc to incentivise them to take on
apprenticeship training in a big way, a move aimed at doubling the number of apprentices in India from nearly 0.5 million now to 1.0 million by the end of 2022 .
Some of the big-ticket changes
include doing away with stipend payment proof from industry if the payment is made to the candidate though a payment
gateway, a senior government official told ET.
Besides, the clause for holding back the stipend payment to
the industry in the last quarter until a candidate appears for assessment has
also been removed, enabling seamless flow of funds to the industry to undertake
apprenticeship training.
Further,
establishments with businesses in four or more states will no longer have to register at multiple locations and stipend support will be given to the industry during the basic
training period too.
The
government reimburses up to Rs 7,500 per apprentice to industry and a 25% or a
maximum of Rs 1,500 as stipend for each candidate per month under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme.
India’s
current apprenticeship scheme allows 2.5-15% of the organizations’
total workforce to be apprentices and firms with
30 or more employees need to mandatorily hire apprentices.
The
renewed focus on apprenticeship has come after the government fell short of its
target of training five million apprentices in the country under the National
Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme launched in 2016. The target was set for a
period of five years. Even at 0.47 million, the number of apprentices in India
is miniscule compared to 3 million in Germany, 10
million in Japan and 20 million in China.
The government is of the view that the executive
orders issued over the years have resulted in creating roadblocks for various
processes namely stipend reimbursement, conducting exams, etc and has become a
hindrance in the career progression of apprentices while hampering the growth
of apprenticeship training in the country.
Centre
plans to set up 5000 skill hubs across India: Rajeev Chandrasekhar / ET /
24 March 2022
Extract
:
Ø The whole objective
of the skill hubs is to use the existing infrastructure of both the education system
and the existing Skill India infrastructure and network to provide a
comprehensive skilling and vocational training programme to students ,
dropouts, and also to those who are seeking employment opportunities outside
the education system in various skills
===================================================
MY TAKE
:
This news report
does not provide the details. I could not find it anywhere on Net
Neither is there
any clue that the revised PROCEDURES incorporate some fundamental REFORMS suggested by Shri Mahendra Nath Pandeyji ( Minister for
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship ), in a note submitted to the Cabinet last
February
For those
suggestions, look up :
I get a feeling
that the announcement merely focuses on a few “ irritants “ , without addressing the core issues
What are those “
Core Issues “ that
go beyond mere tinkering with “ procedures “ , and need to be quickly addressed ?
Here is what PM
has to say re those “ Core
Issues “ :
During his address, the Prime Minister spoke about the five
priority areas :
# Universalization of
quality education;
# Skill Development;
# Inclusion of India’s
ancient experience and knowledge of urban planning and
designing into
education;
# Internationalization and
# Focus on Animation,
Visual-Effects, Gaming and Comic (AVGC).
He further stated that DESH Stack e-portal ( Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood ) aims to :
# Bring together
academic, industry demands and linkages,
# Improves employment prospects and
# Enable the start-up ecosystem.
Related
Readings :
2020
===================================================
2019
Extract :
Role of Ministry of
Skills Development
# There are around 15,000 skill training centres in the country right now, which are
inadequate for India’s size
# We need to train at least 2 crore people every year, but right now we’re
training only 1.05 crore. We need to double our capacity
# At Rs 3 cr / centre, we need Rs 45,000 cr to construct additional 15,000 centres, to be
able to train 2 cr youth / year. It will take years to construct these centres, even if
the required funds were available ( - which is not ! )
To bypass both of these limitations, I
suggest :
# Transform millions of MSME into “ Skill Training Centres “
# Deliver
online Training Courses for development of various skills through
the Computer provided by the Labor Ministry for
implementation of
MaanDhan Scheme
# Some
of these may be VR
based training, requiring VR headsets ( to
be provided FREE to MSME by this Ministry
).
These can be used not only by the apprentices but also by the MSME’s
own workers
# As
an incentive / motivation for the MSME to undertake to train at least
2 apprentices per year ( under the Apprentice Act )
, following may
be considered :
+ Government
subsidizing the stipend payable to the trainees by 50 %
+ No obligation to absorb the trainees after completion of training
===================================================
2018
================================================
2017
Discovering the Obvious ?......................................[
30 Nov 2017 ]
Extract :
WHAT WOULD BE THE RIGHT
APPROACH ?
Right approach would be :
" Do not give fish to a hungry
man / teach him how to fish "
In short, empower them to earn
their own living by teaching them " Skills " and
by gaining
" Experience "
in use of those skills
Entire cost of this " Skilling " and " Experiencing " to be borne by
the
Government, till each
targeted poor / unemployed person, either gets gainfully
employed or becomes self-employed
HOW TO TRANSLATE THIS
" SELF HELP " CONCEPT INTO PRACTICE ?
Divide the implementation in
following 3 phases
* Empowering
- 3 years ( Imparting Skills in Industrial Training Institutes )
* Experiencing
- 3 years ( Providing experience in Ind / Commercial
Establishments )
*
Self-dependence Phase ( Working in a gainful job or as Self Employed )
WHAT SKILLS WILL GET
PROVIDED IN ITI ?
Entire range of Manufacturing Industry
related skills being currently imparted
plus a whole host of commercial skills required
by E Commerce / Fintech /
Agriculture Processing /
Payment Banks / Service Sector / BPO / Telecom and
other emerging sectors
HOW SHALL WE MOTIVATE
UNEMPLOYED YOUTH TO JOIN ITIs ?
* Each trainee will receive Rs 1000 pm (
for course duration of 3 years )
This amount will get
deposited in Jan Dhan bank account of trainee ( DBT )
HOW CAN WE GET PRIVATE
SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN THIS PHASE ?
If a Private firm or individual
comes forward to set up such a Training
Institute ,
# Treat it as an Infrastructure SPV
# No questions asked as to the source of funds for
setting up such ITI
{a
kind of Amnesty Scheme to
convert Black Money into White Money }
# A
government grant of Rs 1,000 pm per trainee to such SPV ( DBT in
Bank A/C )
If
this is done, expect 10,000 SPVs to come up within one year and 10
million
youth to get trained each year !
HOW CAN WE GET
INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS TO
PROVIDE EXPERIENCE
TO TRAINEES PASSING OUT OF ITIs ?
* AMEND APPRENTICESHIP ACT
* Allow all Industrial and Commercial Establishments to engage ANY NUMBER
of apprentices
( without upper limit ) , for a period of 3 years
* Starting
stipend = Min of Semi-Skilled wages ( currently,
approx Rs 6,000
pm )
* Annual Increment
= 5 %
* Establishment to pay
75 % of stipend
* Government to pay 25 % of stipend
( DBT into Jan Dhan account of the
Apprentice )
Extract
:
I urge the Policy Makers to consider the
following ‘ triggers ‘ :
Revise Apprenticeship Act,
to enable employers
to engage ANY NUMBER of (
eligible ) youth as apprentices
and allow employers
to devise “ Training Structure “ as per
their needs
Any Employer wanting to engage
apprentices under this revised APPRENTICESHIP
ACT , would need to be registered
online on the web site of Labour Ministry
and must have installed a Biometric Attendance system , as
described in :
From BAD to MAD
An
eligible youth can serve his apprenticeship period with only one employer
A
person who has successfully completed his apprenticeship cannot be accepted
as apprentice , a
second time , in same or any other company
Remove :
# concept of 5 different “ categories “
of apprentices
# concept of “ Shop-floor
Trades “ for engaging Apprentices
# concept of “ Trade-wise
Ratios “ of apprentices
# distinction between “ Shop
floor “ and “ Office “
, and just say “ WORK PLACE “
# the stipulation concerning “ different years of training for
different trades “
[Just make all training
for 4 years ]
# THE CONCEPT OF “ CONTRACT APPROVAL “
BY APPRENTICE ADVISOR
# Fix stipends payable to
apprentices as follows :
Ø
Starting
Stipend…………….. Minimum wage as per Min Wage Act
Ø
Annual
Increase……………… Linked to rise in CPI
Reimbursement
of Training Cost incurred by the Employers
Ø 25 % of the Stipend cost to be
borne by the Central Government and this amount
to be transferred to the Jan Dhan Account of the
concerned apprentice ( as DBT )
Ø This provision will reduce our “ Cost of Manufacture “ and help to make India a
“ Low Cost Economy “
, without calling this a “ Subsidy “ and violating WTO rules
This would be far better than
controversial Universal Basic Income (
UBI )
Ø It shall not be obligatory on the part of the employer to offer
any employment to
any apprentice who has completed the period
of his apprenticeship training in his
establishment, nor shall it be obligatory on the
part of the apprentice to accept an
employment under the employer.
Ø To encourage PRIVATE SECTOR to
come forward in a BIG WAY , to set up
Industrial Training Institutions ( ITI ) , implement my earlier suggestion ,
as
follows :
Extract :
I urge the Union Government to take
following steps simultaneously , in order to
generate , not just 5 million but 50 MILLION new jobs in the MSME sector ( and
without additional
funds ! ) :
# Abolish all visits by Inspectors (Labour + Shop & Establishment Departments )
# Allow MSMEs to engage Apprentices under the recently revised Skills
Development
Regulations / Apprentice Act
# For them , remove the upper limit ( of Apprentices ) which is maximum of
10 % of employee
strength
# Let them engage Apprentices up to 100 % of their existing employees
# Let them keep these trainees for 3 years under " Retail Establishment
Trainee Scheme "
# Let the stipend be 100 % (
instead of currently prescribed 60-70-80 % ) of
semi- Skilled Minimum
wages
( Minimum Semi Skilled Wages are approx Rs 6,000 per month so
Shopkeeper
need to pay Rs
6000 pm )
# Concerned State Governments to subsidize 50 % of this stipend (so,
Shopkeeper's burden
to be Rs 3,000 pm )
[ Stipend
Subsidy does not violate WTO ! ]
# To ensure fool-proof compliance with the number of
Trainees engaged and
Stipends paid , following
Scheme , viz:
( 24 hr open + 100 % trainees + 100 % Stipend + 50 % Subsidy + 3
year
training
program + No inspectors) ,
- will apply ONLY to those Shops which implement , mobile app MAD outlined
in
my following
blog :
From BAD to MAD [
01 June 2016 ]
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2016
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2015
================================================
2013
With regards,
Hemen Parekh / 30 March 2022 / hcp@RecruitGuru.com
