Govt calls upon CPSEs to accelerate apprenticeship engagement

New Delhi: The Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry on Wednesday convened the national review of central public sector enterprises with a focus on strengthening apprenticeship engagement within the state-owned units, an official release said on Wednesday.

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During the review, CPSEs were called upon to address the gap between apprenticeship potential and actual engagement through realistic enterprise-wise intake plans aligned with the applicable 2.5 to 15 percent apprenticeship requirement.

Enterprises were encouraged to validate their workforce and portal data, establish time-bound recruitment trajectories and nominate senior-level nodal officers to monitor implementation and resolve bottlenecks.

The meeting also centred on positioning apprenticeship as a mainstream pathway from learning to livelihoods.

The review underscored the need to reposition apprenticeship not as a fallback option, but as a credible and aspirational pathway that combines theoretical learning with practical workplace experience, enabling young people to acquire industry-relevant skills and become job-ready.

Debashree Mukherjee, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said: "Apprenticeship must become a mainstream and aspirational pathway from learning to livelihoods. As the ecosystem expands, our focus must go beyond the number of apprentices engaged to what apprenticeship enables young people to become."

The apprenticeship ecosystem has achieved significant scale under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS-2).

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From FY 2022-23 to 22 September 2026, 44.75 lakh apprentices were engaged, supported by 47,452 active establishments. Optional Trades accounted for 76.27 per cent of apprenticeship engagement, reflecting the increasing importance of flexible, employer-responsive apprenticeship pathways.

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