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,
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 !.............................
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 / Sa
Shri Mahendra Nath Pandeyji
( Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship )
No comments:
Post a Comment