Central Apprenticeship Council reconstituted for three years

New Delhi: The skills development and entrepreneurship ministry has reconstituted the Central Apprenticeship Council for a period of three years with effect from October 16, after the term of the previous council came to an end.

As per the Central Apprenticeship Council Rules, 1962 under the Apprenticeship Act, 1961, the 55-member council is chaired by skills development minister Jayant Chaudhary. Rajya Sabha member Vikramjit Singh Sahney has been appointed as the vice chairman of the council.

The council, an advisory body to the government on the Apprenticeship Act, has made significant contributions in the evolution of the law since its inception in 1962.


It has six members each from public sector enterprises and private sector companies as employers' representative, chief executive of the National Skills Development Corporation and one member each from the automotive sector skill council and the IT-ITeS sector skill council. The private sector employer representatives include the chairman of the Tata Group, Maruti Suzuki India, Reliance Industries, Toyota India, Larsen & Toubro and Indian Banks' Association.

Besides, there are 14 representatives from the central government, 10 from the state governments, nine industry experts and six representatives of the all-India council and regional boards.

The skills development and entrepreneurship ministry is currently running the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme-2 (NAPS-2) to promote apprenticeship training in the country under the Apprentice Act, 1961.

Under the scheme, the ministry provides partial stipend support, limited to 25% of the total stipend, up to a maximum of Rs.1,500 per month per apprentice during the training period through direct benefit transfer to the apprentices engaged, besides undertaking capacity building of the apprenticeship ecosystem and providing advocacy assistance to the stakeholders.

So far, 3.23 million apprentices have been engaged under NAPS and 1.59 million have completed training since the launch of the scheme in 2018-19. The government has disbursed ₹350 crore under the scheme till date.