'Youth apprenticeship scheme not just a political announcement by Congress'

A first-of-its-kind apprenticeship scheme announced by the Congress to reach out to the Indian youth ahead of the Lok Sabha elections is not merely a political announcement but is about ensuring their dignity and skilling, the party said on Thursday.

Head of the All India Professionals' Congress Praveen Chakravarty said the scheme has been enumerated after consultations with several experts from India and abroad, and will prove the first step in tackling the problem of unemployment.

He said it is probably the first time that anyone has come up with such a scheme worldwide as several countries offer unemployment allowance but do not ensure employment opportunities.

"It is not merely a political announcement made by the Congress. It is about ensuring the dignity of youth and their skilling," Chakravarty told PTI, while terming the scheme as a "bold idea".

"Providing employment as a legal guarantee to youth is a first anywhere in the world, to the best of my knowledge. Several countries offer unemployment allowance but none offer a legal guarantee to employees, which the Congress has offered to the youth," he stressed.

He said the scheme would offer skills to the youth, help make them employable, and help them grant dignity by offering them jobs.

"Instead of allowance, the Congress is giving them dignity, skill and employability," Chakravarty said, adding the Congress leaders including manifesto committee chief P. Chidambaram and others have spoken to various experts and industry members and have studied different models in different countries.

Asked about further details of the scheme, he said it will be an annual programme that will be launched soon after Congress assumes power and will be applicable in both the public and private sectors.

Chakravarty said it will replace the Apprenticeship Act of 1961 and the scheme will see the involvement of around 10 lakh companies, up from the 45,000 companies that participate in the apprenticeship programme currently.

"The scheme will benefit both the industry, the government and the students as it would provide employment, dignity and skilling to youth and will help bring down the cost of the labour force for companies as the government would share the cost of the apprenticeship scheme," he said.

Asked whether any cost analysis has been made for implementing the scheme, the Congress leader said, "The cost is nothing compared to the severity of the problem of unemployment." He added that the cost would not be much for the Central government once implemented, as it would be shared with the industry.

Explaining further, Chakravarty said the scheme offers to tackle the menace of unemployment which has reached 42 per cent among youth aged 25 and below.

He said any youth under the age of 25 years under the apprenticeship scheme with a degree, diploma and above can demand an apprenticeship in either the public or private sector, and will be paid Rs 1 lakh per annum.

The announcement of the apprenticeship scheme is part of the "justice for youth" and employment guarantee made by top Congress leadership at a public rally in Rajasthan's Banswara on Thursday afternoon.