A one-day awareness workshop on the Special Pilot Initiative under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), titled “Advancing Apprenticeship in the North Eastern Region”, under the vision of Kaushal Bharat, Viksit Bharat, was organised by Niyukti Kendra, Skill Development Department, at the conference hall of ATTC, Bardang, Rangpo today.
MLA cum Advisor for Information Technology (IT), Land Revenue and Disaster Management Department and Information and Public Relations Department, Mr LB Das graced the occasion as the Chief Guest, alongside President, Rangpo Nagar Panchayat, Mr Sanjeev Kumar Khati as the Guest of Honour.
In his address, MLA cum Advisor, Mr LB Das, expressed his appreciation to the department for organising a meaningful programme for the students, highlighting the importance of acquiring skills to enable employability irrespective of location and secure livelihoods and lead a sustainable life. He then encouraged the students to move beyond traditional employment methods and stressed on the importance of learning relevant skills and upgrading themselves to be self-reliant and increase youth employability.
Additionally, he advised the department to facilitate placement opportunities following the apprenticeship and internship programmes to ensure a stable source of income for students in the long run and suggested simplifying the admission process to enable wider and easier access for all candidates. Further, he urged the attendees to disseminate the information regarding the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme amongst their peers to ensure maximum outreach and awareness.
During the programme, Joint Secretary cum CEO for Niyukti Kendra, Skill Development Department, Mrs Sushma Pradhan, imparted a technical session on the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), highlighting the apprenticeship training ecosystem and salient provisions of the Apprentices Act, 1961. She also shed light on the eligibility norms for establishments and candidates, contractual procedures, regulatory requirements, stipend structure, training framework and penalty clauses.
She highlighted the benefits for establishments engaging apprentices, including statutory compliance, workforce planning, development of a skilled talent pool, ease of doing business, incentives and social impact, further highlighting benefits for apprentices which also included industry-oriented training, exposure to modern technologies, earn-while-learn opportunities, prospects of absorption as regular employees and globally recognised certification.
She further outlined implementation guidelines of NAPS-2 and the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) rollout roadmap, sharing the required checklist for candidates and establishments to ensure effective DBT implementation.
Highlighting the pilot special intervention initiative for promotion of apprenticeship in the North Eastern Region, she informed that candidates from the region undertaking apprenticeship training within or outside the North East will receive an additional financial assistance of Rs 1,500, in addition to the Rs 1,500 partial stipend support under PM-NAPS.
Briefing participants on various training programmes under Niyukti Kendra and the Sikkim INSPIRES initiative, she urged the students and establishments to register with Niyukti Kendra and the apprenticeship portal.
Additionally, Deputy Director, Skill Development Department, Mr DD Sharma, highlighted the importance of National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), emphasising that it is a key initiative that links aspiring job seekers with employers by offering hands-on training opportunities in a real workplace environment.
Stressing the importance of apprenticeship in enhancing youth employability in Sikkim, he encouraged the students to actively participate. He further informed on Niyukti Kendra, highlighting its role in developing market-oriented skills and enabling access to employment opportunities across various sectors.
During the programme, a brief demonstration on the registering process of NAPS portal for both apprentices and establishments was facilitated by Resource Person, Skill Development Department, Mr Pritam Shah.
Likewise, a video on Niyukti Kendra, Skill Development Department, was also screened, displaying the overview of the department’s role and objectives, followed by the distribution of participation certificates to the establishments.
A hands-on session was also conducted for establishments, providing practical guidance on registration and usage of the NAPS portal.
Also in attendance were SDM (HQ), Mr Thendup Lepcha; Principal ATTC, Mr Sonam Palden Barfungpa; Principal, GITI Rangpo, Mr Chandan Bajgai; Vice Principal, Mr Lochan Adhikari; Councillor, Rangpo Nagar Panchayat; Ms Sanju Manger; AD, Skill Development Department, Mr Nawraj Lamsel; and representatives from various establishments and institutions and students from GITI and ATTC.
