India: government tables apprenticeship reform

The Indian government is looking for three to fourfold increase in the number of apprentices in the country. Mahendra Nath Pandey, the minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, has proposed a series of amendments to the Apprenticeship Act, which dates back to 1961, with a view to encouraging firms to hand out apprenticeship contracts. Once they come into force, they will be able to subcontract the recruitment of apprentices to employment agencies so as to avoid the administrative burden. Apprenticeship opportunities, which have been traditionally restricted to industry, will be widely extended, particularly in the service sector. By including apprenticeships in the definition of education curricula, the government will also allow companies to send apprentices to their sites abroad or to third-party training organisations if they wish to do so. The ministry is also planning to abolish the requirement for companies to seek approval of contracts by simply notifying the authorities, while criminal penalties incurred by companies that do not meet the legal 2.5% minimum proportion of apprentices will be replaced by fines. Finally, the government is promising an increase in pay for apprentices, which has been set at between INR 5000 and INR 9000 (between €55 and just over €100) since 2019. The text will be submitted in the coming weeks to social partners before being presented to Parliament during the monsoon session.