Lok Sabha Question No. 708 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-12
Subject: Pradhan Mantri National Apprenticeship Mela
Ministry: SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Asked by: Dhanush M Kumar, Manjulata Mandal, C.N. Annadurai, Dibyendu Adhikari, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 708

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12-12-2022

## PRADHAN MANTRI NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP MELA

708 SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR: SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI: SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRIMATI MANJULATA MANDAL: SHRI DIBYENDU ADHIKARI:

Will the Minister of SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has organized the Pradhan Mantri National Apprenticeship Mela, and ifso, the details thereof along with the details of locations shortlisted for the Mela and State-wise response and participation of youth with opportunities;
- (b) the number of companies across the sector that have participated in the Mela;
- (c) whether organizing such Mela has helped both candidates and companies and if so, the detailsthereof, State-wise;
- (d) the details of hiring as apprentices within Corporate Companies;
- (e) the achievement made by the Government while organizing such Melas; and
- (f) the steps taken by the Government to make the Mela a successful event?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

(SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

- (a) to (d) Yes, Sir. The Government has organized Pradhan Mantri National Apprenticeship Mela (PMNAM) across the country. So far five Melas have been organized till the month of November 2022 since its inception in June 2022. States/UTs have been advised to organize PMNAM every 2nd  Monday in 1/3 of total number of districts with the flexibility for choosing the district/location and  the day  of  Mela based on local conditions/festivals, etc. so that all districts are covered once in a quarter, and four times in a year. The State/UT-wise list is at Annexure-I .  The  Mela  has  invoked  interest  amongst  the  stake  holders  including  corporate companies.  The  State-wise  list  regarding  establishments,  candidates  participated  and apprenticeship contract generated is at Annexure-II .
- (e) The Government is striving to train 10 lakh youth per annum through apprenticeship training.  Towards  this  PMNAM  is  being  used  as  a  platform  for  active  participation  of establishments and candidates.It also provides awareness  to the youth on various opportunities existing across the participating establishments/industries.Thus, PMNAM helps to bring greater number of youth and establishments/industries into the apprenticeship fold.

Apprenticeship Melas create opportunities for apprenticeship for youth in the establishments  /  industries  to  bridge  the  skill  gap  by  imparting  on-the-job  training  and  to make them industry-ready and employable.

PMNAM  brings  dynamic  participation  of  establishments/companies  and  candidates  and provides awareness to the  youth  on various opportunities existing  across  the  participating companies. The thrust given by the Ministry towards apprenticeship training through reforms (facilitation and process simplifications), awareness workshops, continuous engagement with establishments / employers, apprenticeship Mela, and public reach out to create awareness about  apprenticeship  training  among  the  students  and  the  establishments  are  making positive impact. All these initiatives have led to increase in the number of apprentices from 2.90 lakh in 2020-21 to 5.8 lakh in 2021-22 and expenditure increased from Rs. 120 crore to Rs.  217  crore  during  the  same  period,  and  it  is  expected  that  it  will  lead  to  increase  in number of apprentices engaged to reach 10 lakh in the current financial year.

- (f) Wide publicity to conduct the apprenticeship Mela is given through Government Media Channels like  Press  Information  Bureau  (PIB),  Doordarshan,  Community  Radios,  All  India Radio, social media  platforms  like MyGov,  print media,  digital  media  (SMS),  active State/district participation through ITIs at the local level, through leaflets, mobilizing schools and colleges, publicity drive by Regional Directorates of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (RDSDEs), Board of Apprenticeship Training (BOAT),Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), Third Party Aggregators (TPAs), and Local Industry Associations.

The  Government  is  also organising  250 apprenticeship  awareness  workshops throughout the country to create awareness about apprenticeship among the students and the establishments / industries and to create opportunities for apprenticeship for youth.  This will  lead  to  greater  participation  of  establishments  and  candidates  converting  candidate's applications / registrations into apprenticeship contracts.

- (i) Various reforms, including amendments in 2014 to the Apprentices Act, 1961 and the Rules in 2019 and launch of National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), have been carried  out  to  facilitate  the  establishments  to  engage  more  number  of  apprentices.  The reforms to the Apprentices Act, 1961 in 2014, and to the Apprenticeship Rules, 1992 in 2019 are:
- The apprentice intake band higher limit has been increased from 10% to 15%. This allows establishments to hire more apprentices.
- Mandatory staff strength of establishments (to engage apprentices) has been reduced to 30 from 40. This has brought in more establishments under the ambit of the Act.
- Optional engagement limit has been lowered to 4 from the existing 6. This will also lead to the increase in voluntary organisations for engaging apprentices.
- The  stipend  has  been  delinked  from  the  minimum  wages  and  now  linked  to  the educational /  skill  qualification  of  candidate  required  for  particular  course  /  trade.  This  has removed the anomalies in stipend rates ensuring the stipend uniformity.
- Optional trades have been introduced which offer flexibility in the course design to the industries in the service sector.
- Apprenticeship-embedded degree courses are allowed.
- Non-engineering degree holders also can undergo training for upskilling.
- Provision for imprisonment for noncompliance of provisions of the Act is replaced by penalty.

(ii) The  Ministry  of  Skill  Development  and  Entrepreneurship  has  taken  many  steps,  in consultation with various stakeholders, to simplify the portal and the processes, and to revise the  NAPS  guidelines  to  bring  increase  in  the  number  of  establishments  and  apprentices. Eight  Office  Memorandums  (OMs)  were  issued  between  December  2021  and  November 2022, to simplify portal/apprenticeship processes and to make the process of apprenticeship engagement easier:

- The  functionality  of  apprenticeship  portal  has  been  enhanced  as  per  the  user requirement,
- Guidelines on National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) and Basic Training Provider (BTP)have been revised to make the processes easier.
- The duration of Optional Trades courses has been revised (mostly one year).
- Industrial Training Institute (ITI) pass candidates are exempted from theory examination.
- All  India  Trade  Test  (AITT)for  apprentices  is  being  scheduled  quarterly  so  that certificates are issued throughout the year to the candidates.
- Bigger establishments are allowed to provide basic training in their premises.
- For  ease  of  central  jurisdiction  establishments,  it  is  allowed  to  selectone  Regional Directorate of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (RDSDE)instead of many.
- No proof of payment to be uploaded by establishments, if payment is done via portal payment gateway, and
- Stipend  support  to  establishments  allowed  if  Basic  Training  (BT)  and  On-the-job training (OJT) is done in simultaneous mode.

(iii) Further  Ministry  is  engaging  with  Central  Public  Sector  Units  (CPSUs)  continuously and a virtual meet was held on 02-05-2022with the top management of  CPSUs to engage more  apprentices  and  also  encourage  their  contractors  and  the  entire  chain  of  dealers/ suppliers  to  engage  apprentices.  Also,  CPSUs'  participation  is  being  envisaged  in  the proposed  250  apprenticeship  awareness  workshops  and  in  monthly  apprenticeship  Mela throughout the country.

## For UN-STARRED QUESTION NO: 708 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12-12-2022

## State/UT wise number of Districts / Locations in each Mela

| Sl. No.   | State / UT                               | Number of Districts/ Locations   |
|-----------|------------------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh                           | 9                                |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh                        | 8                                |
| 3         | Assam                                    | 11                               |
| 4         | Bihar                                    | 13                               |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh                             | 11                               |
| 6         | Goa                                      | 1*                               |
| 7         | Gujarat                                  | 11                               |
| 8         | Haryana                                  | 7                                |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh                         | 4                                |
| 10        | Jharkhand                                | 8                                |
| 11        | Karnataka                                | 10                               |
| 12        | Kerala                                   | 5                                |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh                           | 18                               |
| 14        | Maharashtra                              | 12                               |
| 15        | Manipur                                  | 5                                |
| 16        | Meghalaya                                | 4                                |
| 17        | Mizoram                                  | 4                                |
| 18        | Nagaland                                 | 5                                |
| 19        | Odisha                                   | 10                               |
| 20        | Punjab                                   | 8                                |
| 21        | Rajasthan                                | 11                               |
| 22        | Sikkim                                   | 2                                |
| 23        | Tamil Nadu                               | 13                               |
| 24        | Telangana                                | 11                               |
| 25        | Tripura                                  | 3                                |
| 26        | Uttar Pradesh                            | 25                               |
| 27        | Uttarakhand                              | 4                                |
| 28        | West Bengal                              | 8                                |
| 29        | Andaman and Nicobar                      | 1*                               |
| 30        | Chandigarh                               | 1*                               |
| 31        | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 1*                               |
| 32        | Delhi                                    | 4                                |
| 33        | Jammu and Kashmir                        | 6                                |
| 34        | Lakshadweep                              | 1*                               |
| 35        | Ladakh                                   | 1*                               |
| 36        | Puducherry                               | 1                                |
| Total     |                                          | 257                              |

## For UN-STARRED QUESTION NO: 708 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12-12-2022

## Details of establishments, candidate participated, and contracts generated

| Sl. No.   | State / UT                               | Establishments*   | Candidates participated*   | Contract generated**   |
|-----------|------------------------------------------|-------------------|----------------------------|------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh                           | 812               | 11749                      | 5359                   |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh                        | 6                 | 471                        | 7                      |
| 3         | Assam                                    | 47                | 1511                       | 3181                   |
| 4         | Bihar                                    | 263               | 16440                      | 1929                   |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh                             | 71                | 2022                       | 2014                   |
| 6         | Goa                                      | 0                 | 0                          | 8578                   |
| 7         | Gujarat                                  | 1534              | 22814                      | 13524                  |
| 8         | Haryana                                  | 433               | 14638                      | 11974                  |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh                         | 141               | 962                        | 2560                   |
| 10        | Jharkhand                                | 46                | 4072                       | 3190                   |
| 11        | Karnataka                                | 302               | 6512                       | 11047                  |
| 12        | Kerala                                   | 223               | 6418                       | 3271                   |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh                           | 198               | 8152                       | 15825                  |
| 14        | Maharashtra                              | 829               | 19833                      | 34428                  |
| 15        | Manipur                                  | 5                 | 130                        | 4                      |
| 16        | Meghalaya                                | 0                 | 0                          | 40                     |
| 17        | Mizoram                                  | 0                 | 25                         | 475                    |
| 18        | Nagaland                                 | 0                 | 0                          | 1315                   |
| 19        | Odisha                                   | 304               | 6425                       | 2236                   |
| 20        | Punjab                                   | 238               | 6085                       | 3476                   |
| 21        | Rajasthan                                | 475               | 10007                      | 8326                   |
| 22        | Sikkim                                   | 3                 | 47                         | 6479                   |
| 23        | Tamil Nadu                               | 1014              | 9020                       | 15819                  |
| 24        | Telangana                                | 386               | 8382                       | 6049                   |
| 25        | Tripura                                  | 5                 | 456                        | 3273                   |
| 26        | Uttar Pradesh                            | 599               | 14021                      | 16221                  |
| 27        | Uttarakhand                              | 136               | 2675                       | 5786                   |
| 28        | West Bengal                              | 86                | 3069                       | 7339                   |
| 29        | Andaman and Nicobar                      | 0                 | 0                          | 1                      |
| 30        | Chandigarh                               | 14                | 235                        | 300                    |
| 31        | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 13                | 185                        | 2911                   |
| 32        | Delhi                                    | 283               | 3270                       | 15865                  |
| 33        | Jammu and Kashmir                        | 329               | 4154                       | 6496                   |
| 34        | Lakshadweep                              | 0                 | 0                          | 12650                  |
| 35        | Ladakh                                   | 0                 | 0                          | 0                      |
| 36        | Puducherry                               | 42                | 501                        | 2045                   |
| Total     | Total                                    | *8,836            | *1,84,281                  | **2,33,993             |

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