Apprentices : Hire Any Number without paying Wages ?

 

Context :

Apprenticeship Revamp: On-The-Job Training For All Sectors In The Offing  /  TechLive  /  24 Jan 2022

Extract :

The government could open up on-the-job training for all sectors, besides bringing apprenticeship under one ministry or an umbrella body, as part of its efforts to significantly improve apprenticeship in India.

 

The move is aimed at skilling India’s workforce at a rapid pace across sectors, especially for the 13 sectors under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, and to cover up the loss in skilling for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A host of skilling related announcements could be made in the Union budget for 2022-23 on February 1, with a focus on incentivising private players to take up skilling in a big way.

Currently, the retail sector has the flexibility of on-the-job training but other fast-growing sectors including logistics and healthcare are deprived of this flexibility.

This increases the time span for bringing apprentices on board as they first have to undergo physical class-room training.

Besides the ministries of,

#  Skill Development and Entrepreneurship,

#  Human Resource and Development,

both have one apprenticeship scheme each, leading to overlap and confusion among candidates and employers.

“The government is focused on making apprenticeship in India at par with global standards and this requires focussed intervention,” said a senior government official

 “We are analysing various options and an announcement to this effect could be made soon.”

According to India Skills Report 2021, employability of India’s youth decreased to 45.9% in 2021 from 46.21% in 2020 and 47.38% in 2019, primarily due to the loss of skilling in the past two years.

In India, just 0.26 million people are apprentices compared to 0.5 million in the UK, 3 million in Germany, 10 million in Japan and 20 million in China. This is miniscule when compared to nearly 10 million youths that enter India’s workforce every year.

Industry associations have asked the government to involve them as third-party agencies for scaling up apprenticeship in India.

“Across the world, apprenticeship has emerged as one of the successful models to get a skilled workforce for the industries.

Apprenticeship training is a very effective way of enabling youth to have practical, on-the-job training, which meets the requirements of the industry,” the Confederation of Indian Industry said in its recommendations to the government ahead of the Budget.

India’s current apprenticeship scheme allows 2.5-15% of the organisations’ total workforce to be apprentices and firms with 30 or more employees need to mandatorily hire apprentices.

 

Dear Smt Sitharamanji,

Next Tuesday morning ( 01 Feb 2022 ) when you deliver your Budget speech, I hope it would incorporate the my following suggestions, as far as the Apprenticeship Scheme is concerned :

 

 Make in India is Skill-ing India…………………………………. [ 17 July 2015 ]

 

Extract :

 #   JOB  CREATION

 

      We should, simultaneously amend the Apprentice Act – 1951

 

      Under the amended Act, every factory will be required to take fresh

      Apprentices in the ratio of 1 : 3 ( one trainee for three permanent

      employees, in each trade ), instead of current prescribed ratio of 1:7

 

      This will create a huge demand for ITI trained students

 

 

 #    COST  REDUCTION

 

      Since ITI trained apprentices are paid a stipend ( generally 20 % of the

      wages paid to regular / permanent / skilled workers ), this will sharply

      reduce the manpower costs of manufacturing units

 

     This will lead to India becoming a " Low Cost Economy " and increase the

     competitiveness of our products, in the international markets , thereby

     boosting our exports ( currently, a meagre 1.7 % of World Trade ! )

 

    

 

 #   ADVANTAGE ,  MSME

 

     Under amended Apprentice Act , permit MSME to retain ITI trained skilled

     workers, on a stipend-basis , for 4 years ( instead of current 2 years )

 

     This lowering of wages will make MSME very competitive in their cost.

 

     In turn, this will encourage large organized factories to outsource /

     sub-contract more components to MSME , instead of manufacturing

     in-house

 

     This will result in a robust " Supply Chain Eco-System "

 

     It is such an Eco-System in China, which compels Apple to have 331

     Component-Suppliers in China as against ONE supplier from India !

 

 

  

#   PERCENTAGE  OF  SKILLED  WORKERS

 

     Of the total work force , percentage of skilled workers in India today , is

     meagre 3.5 % , as against 96 % in South Korea  !

 

     If my suggestion gets implemented, we should be able to raise this

     figure to at least 50 % in next 10 years !

 

 

IDEAS TO CREATE JOBS……………………………………. [ 22 Aug 2015 ]

 

Extract :

My suggestions :

 

 

    >   Change ratio from 1:7  to  1:2

 

    >   Ratio not to apply " Trade-wise " but to the total no of

          permanent employees

 

    >   Increase in-house training period from 1 year to 3 years

 

    >   Reduce monthly stipend to " Statutory Minimum Wages "

 

    >   No compulsion for absorbing such trainees at the end of

         the  training period

 

As a result of the suggested changes , following will happen :

 

>    Millions acquiring skills under NCSD, will get stipendiary jobs at once

 

>    Some 57 million MSME will each take, 1 to 2 such trainees

 

>    Even if not absorbed by the Company, they will be ready to become

      self employed

 

>    They will become eligible for Start-Up loans ( from MUDRA support )

 

 

 

Harness " Greed " to " Skill India "…………………………….. [ 19 May 2016 ]

 

Extract :

Just tell our 50 million MSMEs ( and all larger units, as well ) :

 

 

*   " Train "  Apprentices ( low cost labour ) , then 

 

*   " Hire " them for longer periods  ( - again , low cost labour ) ,

 

*    Reduce your manufacturing cost ( to become competitive world-wide ) ,

 

*    Become more profitable ( and sooner  )

 

 

 

It is time to stop tinkering with persuading of PSUs 

 

It is time to harness " Greed " to " Skill India "

 

Skill Capital of the World ? ………………………………[ 06 June 2016 ]

 

Extract :

But, we all know that :

 

#   NSDC ( National Skills Development Corporation ) has a target to impart 

     " Skills " to 300 million youth by 2022 ( approx 50 million / year )

 

#   As of now, only some 27 % of college graduates are " employable "

 

#   50 % of our current population (approx 550 million) are under age of 27

 

 

 

In light of the foregoing, the reforms ( in Apprentice Scheme ) announced are most welcome

It could have been still better if :

 

#   Offset against CSR ,( of the expense incurred by Companies on

     Apprentice Scheme ) was NOT restricted to only those Companies

     which engaged apprentices in excess of mandatory  2.5 % of employee

     strength

 

#   For 6 trades, training duration was NOT reduced from 3 to 2 years

 

#   Stipend payable was lower than specified 70% / 80 % / 90 % of

      Semi-Skilled minimum wages ( of approx Rs 6000 per month )

 

#   Minimum Mandatory limit was raised from 2.5 % to 5 %

 

#   There was NO upper limit for engaging ( currently 10 % of employees )

 

Universal Basic Income…………………………………….. [ 20 Jan 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

 

Should he choose to become Self-Employed ( by registering as a " Start Up " ),

exempt him from paying Personal Income Tax for next 10 years

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 )

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOW CAN WE ENSURE A " LEAKAGE PROOF " DISBURSEMENTS OF DBT AMOUNTS ?

*    Through implementation of Mobile based Attendance System , outlined in

       my blog,

      From BAD to MAD 

 

Organizing the Unorganized……………………………… [ 04 Feb 2019 ]

 

Extract :

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 Labour 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

 

with regards,

hemen parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 28 Jan 2022

 

Related Readings :

Of Interns and Apprentices………………………………… [ 07 Jan 2018 ]

 

Starting a Virtuous Circle……………………………………. [ 17 Dec 2018 ]

 

Congratulations, Anilbhai Naik……………………………. [ 08 Feb 2019 ]

 

Thank You, Prakashbhai ( Javadekarji )………………[ 03 April 2019 ]

 

Paralyzed by Policy Revisions ? ……………………………[ 27 May 2019 ]

 

Conditions ( must ) Apply !.............................. [ 14 July 2020 ]

 

Human Resource Capital of the World ?............. [ 23 Nov 2020 ]

 

ApprenticeShip: Unanchored and ready to sail ?  [ 08 Feb 2021 ]

 

E-Mails to Cabinet Ministers > SELF EMPLOYMENT / GIG ECONOMY [ 10 Mar 2021 ]

 

National Skills University : Virtual is the only way… [ 03 Apr 2021 ]

 

CC:

 

Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwarji,  Minister for Labour , Central Government

[ molegangwar@yahoo.com  /  Santosh.gangwar.bareilly@gmail.com ]

 

 Shri Mahendra Nath Pandeyji

(  Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship )

mahendranath.pandey@sansad.nic.in /  drmnpandeymp@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is price of your Vote ?

 

 

For past few months, the question that political parties seem to asking the voters, is ;

What is price of your vote ?

Ø  Free smartphone / laptop / cycle / scooter / ration / gas cylinder / education ?

Ø  Jobs / scholarships / monthly cash for girls / mangal-sutra / flat ?

You name it – and we promise ( * conditions apply )

But the Supreme Court is saying :

Promise of freebies in polls a 'serious issue', asserts SC  /  Deccan Chronicle  /  25 Jan 2022

Extract :

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a plea seeking to curb the political parties from promising freebies in their election manifestos, thereby putting under further strain the exchequer of already debt-ridden state finances.

Describing the issue as “serious”, Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, heading a bench also comprising Justice A.S. Bopanna and Justice Hima Kohli, expressed his doubts  on how to go about the practice of all the political parties promising freebies to the electorate on the eve of state Assembly elections.

The court gave both the Centre and the Election Commission four weeks’ time to reply.

“Tell us how we can manage it. We must also know how we are going to control it,” CJI Ramana told senior lawyer Vikas Singh who had appeared for PIL petitioner and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

Singh referred to an Election Symbol order and told the court that if a political party does not desist from promising freebies, then Election Commission can use this in the next election to freeze the symbol and deregister it.

Senior lawyer told the court that the Election Commission did issue guidelines to curb freebies but they are toothless and can’t be enforced.

The court also asked Singh to read from an earlier judgment of the top court where the court had adversely commented on the announcement of freebies including cash transfers at the time of the elections and had described them as corrupt practices.

At the outset of the hearing as Vikas Singh told the court that all political parties were announcing freebies, CJI Ramana asked him, “If all parties are doing it, why did you name just two parties only” in your petition.

 

MY TAKE :

Congressmen are Confused ! ………………………………[ 31 Dec 2013 ]

 

Bribing The Voters ………………………………………………[ 28 April 2014 ]

 

Extract :

Even the almighty Supreme Court seemed helpless, when it held recently :

 

 

"  Although promises of distribution of freebies may not technically constitute  corrupt practice , under the Representation of People Act , they vitiate the electoral process by influencing voters and disturbing the level playing between contesting parties "

 

 

And since there is no difference of opinion between the political parties when it comes to exploiting the poverty of 400 million BPL ( Below the Poverty Line ) voters , I would not be surprised if the next government at the Centre , introduces a  ,

 

 "  Bribe ( given ) Politically ( is ) Legal ( BPL ) Bill "

 

 in the very first session of 16th Lok Sabha  !

 

Expect it to be passed unanimously - and without a debate  !

Political parties are firm believer of what Kaushik Basu ( onetime advisor to PM ) once said ( - although in a different context ) ,

 

"  Giving bribe must not be treated as crime

 

Ordinary citizens are forced to give bribes when they are denied , service that is legitimately due to them

 

If they are held innocent , they will come forward and report all instances when they were forced to bribe bureaucrats

  

Only bribe-takers must be punished  "

 

One Up on Free Wi - Fi ? …………………………………[ 11 Feb 2015 ]

 

Advantage , Incumbent ?........................... …[ 05 Sept 2016 ]

 

Extract :

On 22 Feb 2014 , following Supreme Court directives , the Election Commission , revised , " Model Code of Conduct " , containing guidelines on what kind of poll promises , political parties can incorporate in their poll manifestos

  

GUIDELINES

 

 *   Parties shall make only those promises which are possible to be fulfilled

  

*   It is expected that manifestos also reflect the rationale for the promises

     and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirements

      for it

 

 *   Party in power shall stop advertizing for publicity of achievements

 

 

Now, no one expects our Parliament to :

Ø  Incorporate EC’s “ Guidelines “ in a statute ( law ) which carries stiff punishment for political parties which violate such a law ( no political party will support such a bill )

Ø  Enact a law ( or an amendment to any existing law ), which gives Election Commission the POWER to disqualify ( temporarily or permanently ) any political party which violates above mentioned GUIDELINES ( - with , of course, a provision for aggrieved party to challenge in Supreme Court )

Ø  Pass a law which makes all promises ( Political Bribes to Voters ), legal !

Given this scenario, if MEDIA were to conduct a survey of the voters which asks :

Ø  Would you support conducting General Elections ( for LokSabha ), every 3 years ? .. YES / NO

Ø  Ditto for State Elections ?...YES / NO

 

-   Then I believe 80 % of ALL voters would respond with a resounding… YES  !   

Hey, I can get a new laptop, every 3 years !

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 27 Jan 2022

 

Related Readings :

“ Election Reforms " Summarized………………………… [ 18 Aug 2017 ]

 

Model Code of ( Hypocrite ) Conduct ?................. [ 07 Jan 2017 ]

 

  

 

 

 

 

Cogratulations, Shri Rajaramanji,

 

 

Context :

Public wifi hotspots have potential to generate 2-3 crore jobs this year: Telecom Secretary

 

Eco Times / 25 Jan 2022

Extract :

 

Setting up of 1 crore public wifi hotspots across the country by this year as envisaged under the present telecom policy, has the potential to create 2 – 3 crore jobs , Telecom Secretary K Rajaraman has said

 

“ Given the conservative estimate of each hot spot generating 2 – 3 direct / indirect employment opportunities, the creation of 10 million hot spots as per the NDCP ( National Digital Communication Policy ) target by 2022, would potentially generate 20 – 30 million job opportunities in the Small and Medium Scale sectors “, Rajaraman said  

 

“ Sprawling manufacturing units will be needed to produce millions of access points for PM WANI which is the core of the AtmaNirbhar Bharat Mission and would, therefore lead to more job creation “ Rajaraman said

 

According to PM WANI portal, over 56,000 Wi Fi hotspots have been deployed across the country till date

 

Rajaraman said he wants more entrepreneurs to join PM WANI program facilitated by C DOT

 

“ We will be happy to facilitate existing entrepreneurs in local neighbourhoods , especially,

 

#  local cable operators,

 

#  internet service providers,

 

#  tourism operators etc.,

 

-        to come forward and help proliferate WANI access points across the country “ , he said

 

 

Cogratulations, Shri Rajaramanji,  

(  secy-dot@nic.in  ),

  

Following are extracts from my earlier e-mails in this matter :

 

 

7 YEARS ago :

 

If Mohamed cannot go to Mountain …………………………( 26 July 2015 )

 

Extract :

 

#  In today's internet era , an equivalent would be :

 

         " If people cannot go to where jobs are , let jobs go to where people live "

 

 

Remember, in 2015, it is much easier / cheaper to import " digital service " based jobs into India , then to export people to foreign countries , where they will face a lot of resistance / animosity from local citizens

 

Examples :

 Call Canters  /  BPO  /  RPO  / LPO  /  KPO ....any PO ( Process Outsourcing )

 

      #   Under " Digital India " program, let Union Government provide a 100 Mb

           broadband connection to each such " School-cum- Call Center " , free of

             cost

 

            That will also help the students to freely access digital education content

            throughout the day

 

 

Reminder :

Slow and Steady wins the Race ?.............................. [ 03 Oct 2016 ]

 

 

Dear Shri Rajaramanji,

 

In order to generate those 2 – 3 crore jobs , I urge you to consider suggestion that I made in my following mail ( 5 YEARS ago ) :

 

How About Virtual Call Centers ?................................. [ 04 Oct 2016 ]

 

Extract :

 

But then , in today's totally interconnected World , why should it be necessary for housing 10 / 20 / 50 persons in ONE place , under ONE roof , for collaborating on execution of COMMON tasks ?

 

 I am sure , in any given ONE square km of a small town , there are 50 unemployed - and quite possibly , GRADUATE - youngsters , who would be more than happy to " work from home "

 

 They will be happy to set aside , in their homes , a 5 feet by 5 feet space , as a " Home Work Station "

 

 Now , that subsidy of " Rs 1 lakh per seat " that the IT Ministry has promised , is quite sufficient to set up a :

 

VIRTUAL  CALL  CENTER ,

 

by connecting those 50 youngsters through a  , VPN ( VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK )

 

 And since these youngsters are working from their homes , they can be asked to work in 3 shifts of 8 hours each , providing " Round the Clock " service to customers !

  

If Uber-Ola are adding 5,000 " Ride Sharing Taxies " EVERY MONTH , by providing lease finance to the drivers or even buying the cars themselves and giving to these drivers , then what is holding back the IT Ministry to follow their suit and enable 5,000 youngsters to become " Self Employed " , each month ? or even 50,000 ?

 

Dear Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad-ji :

 

Why give a subsidy to a prospective " OWNER " of a Call Centre ?

 

Why not give it directly ( DBT / Direct Benefit Transfer ) to those youngsters ?

 

Of course , this subsidy transfer should take place , only AFTER , the Call Centre Owner , certifies that it has entered into a " Contractual Retainer-ship " with a particular youngster

 

I would request you to consider the following aspects of my suggestion :

  

*  No new building premises needed

  

*  All technologies for a VPN, are existing / well proven  / reasonably priced / easy

    to implement quickly

 

 *  MSPs / ISPs and your own Ministry are pushing internet connections to every

     corner of India

  

*  Moving from " Ownership of Assets " to " Assets as Service " scenario ( ala

    Uber-Ola-Airbnb etc )

 

 *  Moving from " Employment " to " Self Employment " with direct transfer of

     subsidy to beneficiary

 

 *  Has the potential to raise India's share in global BPO business from current 36

       % to 50 % in one year

 

 *  Can earn billions of dollars in foreign exchange

  

*  It would become a LIVING PROOF that DIGITAL INDIA can help our un-

   employed graduates to earn a living

 

*  Google  /  Microsoft  / Facebook , would be happy to help since " Next Billion "

    is their topmost agenda

 

 

In an age where the " Fast and Furious " are out to overtake the " Slow and Steady " , the meek are unlikely to inherit the earth !

 

 

With regards,

 

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  27 Jan 2022

 

 

CC:

 

Shri A K Tiwari	Member(Technology)	membert-dot@nic.in
Shri Dilip Padhye	Member(Finance)	memberf-dot@nic.in
Shri Ashok Kumar Mittal	Member(Services)	members-dot@nic.in

 

 

Related Readings :

 

#WiFi #LiFi #Broadband #Internet …………………………………[ 08 April 2018 ]