Ministry of Skill Development to be amend Apprenticeship Act, shift from government regulation to self-governance will be on focus

New Delhi: In a move aimed at improving the ease of doing business for employers and widening the scope of apprentices, the skill development ministry is planning to amend the Apprenticeship Act, 1961 in the monsoon session of Parliament.

The government will amend the Apprenticeship Act and integrate its provisions with the ease of doing business goal with a “shift from government regulation to self-governance” and build flexibility for employers and individuals to establish better shop-floor training and employment ecosystem.

As per the existing provisions, firms with 30 or more employees have to train a minimum of 2.5% of apprentices each year while maximum could go up to 15% of the total employee strength.

The amendment will also allow outsourcing of apprentice aggregation to third parties, including staffing companies, expand the definition of establishment to include new sectors such as services and open up apprenticeship opportunities for students to improve their employability, skills and entrepreneurship secretary Praveen Kumar said on Thursday.

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The amendments will relieve the industry from the burden of paperwork for apprenticeship, which can be taken care of by third parties, ministry officials said. There will be a “shift from government regulation to self-governance” and provisions will be made to “replace the penal provisions of fine on companies for failure to take apprentices with fine by executive authorities”.

The amendment will also enable firms to deploy apprentices in their operations abroad but deployment of apprentices should not be construed as regularization of jobs. A bill to this effect will be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament and once passed, it shall quadruple the current capacity of apprenticeship and help both employers and employees, Kumar said.

“We believe such a move is necessary in the changing work environment,” Kumar said. “The move, once implemented, will also help the amended Apprenticeship Act move in sync with labour reforms, the inbuilt safety measures, and the national education policy provisions related to multi-disciplinary education,” said Atul Tiwari, additional secretary, ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship.

The initiative, the ministry said, would lead to “enhancement in apprenticeship opportunities” and define establishment as a place of commerce “where any trade/commerce/industry activity is taking place including educational/ training institutions”.