Skill Development Ministry asks central public sector enterprises to widen apprenticeship engagement

28 October 2026

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship held a national review meeting of Central Public Sector Enterprises at Kaushal Bhawan, New Delhi, to strengthen apprenticeship engagement. Secretary Debashree Mukherjee said the focus must shift from the number of trainees to outcomes such as completion, certification, employability and retention, and urged enterprises to include women and under-represented groups. Under the second phase of the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme, 44.75 lakh apprentices were engaged through 47,452 active establishments between FY 2022-23 and 22 September 2026, with Optional Trades accounting for 76.27 per cent of engagement. Enterprises were asked to prepare hiring plans in line with the mandatory apprenticeship requirement of 2.5 per cent to 15 per cent, verify their workforce data on the portal and appoint senior-level nodal officers.