Database for training centres in works: Skills Secy Debashree Mukherjee

Skills Secretary Debashree Mukherjee says the government is also exploring cluster-based apprenticeship models to boost MSME participation

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is working on creating a database of skilling centres across the country, including those run by government, industry and private players, to address fragmentation in India’s skill development ecosystem, Skills Secretary Debashree Mukherjee said on Monday. Speaking at the annual business summit of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Mukherjee said one of the key challenges in the skilling ecosystem was the absence of shared information despite multiple actors — industries, CSR programmes, colleges and institutions 

“We are now trying to put together a database of centres of excellence in skilling, run both by industry, government and private sector so that it is available to everybody to show what are the gold standards on skill development,” Mukherjee said.

The ministry is now attempting to build a database of “centres of excellence” in skilling across sectors that can serve as benchmarks for quality training. 

Mukherjee said the government has not yet been able to make significant progress in expanding apprenticeships in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector and is exploring strategies to improve participation. She said MSME associations could collectively handle the classroom and assessment components of apprenticeship programmes in locations where MSME clusters exist. 

“The challenge is that we’ve not been able to make a major headway in the MSME sector. We are trying to find strategies in terms of how to bring in the MSME sector into the apprenticeship program and my request is to look at the clusterisation model,” said Mukherjee. 

She also urged large companies to leverage their ancillary and networks to bring more apprentices into the system, describing apprenticeships as a “win-win” for both employers and trainees. 

The Central government has been pushing apprenticeship-based training as part of its broader skilling strategy through the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), launched in 2016 under the MSDE. The scheme, which has an outlay of ₹10,000 crore, provides financial incentives to employers by reimbursing part of the stipend paid to apprentices and sharing basic training costs. Alongside NAPS, the government also runs the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme, administered by the education ministry, which focuses on apprenticeships for graduates, diploma holders and technically qualified youth. 

Mukherjee cautioned against misuse of apprentices as low-cost labour. “There have been reports that often, apprentices are not really taught. Even in public sector organisations, I heard reports that people take apprentices in a sector and then they are put into HR roles. That’s not what we are looking for,” she said.