Pradhan Launches NATS 2.0 Portal and Disburses ₹100 Cr in Stipends to Apprentices

During the launch event, Shri Pradhan highlighted the portal’s role in democratizing apprenticeship opportunities, bridging the skills gap, and preparing youth for future job markets.

In a significant boost to skill development and youth employability, Union Minister for Education Shri Dharmendra Pradhan today launched the National Apprenticeship and Training Scheme (NATS) 2.0 Portal in New Delhi. The event also saw the disbursement of ₹100 crore in stipends to apprentices across various sectors including IT/ITes, manufacturing, and automotive, through the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) mode.

The NATS 2.0 portal is designed to streamline apprenticeship processes, allowing beneficiaries to register and apply for apprenticeships, while enabling industries to manage vacancies and contracts efficiently. This initiative is aligned with the government's focus on enhancing the skilling and employability of youth.

During the launch event, Shri Pradhan highlighted the portal's role in democratizing apprenticeship opportunities, bridging the skills gap, and preparing youth for future job markets. He emphasized that the portal would facilitate better matchmaking between candidates and employers and support a large number of young graduates and diploma holders in gaining valuable employability skills along with a guaranteed monthly stipend.

The event also featured two panel discussions on critical topics: "Future of Apprenticeships – Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Program," "Credits for All Apprenticeship," "Industry and Higher Education Collaboration," and "Leveraging Technology for DBT and Strengthening e-Governance." The discussions were attended by prominent dignitaries, academicians, and students.

Top establishments recognized during the event included Cognizant Technology Solutions Pvt Ltd, Infosys Ltd., and Tech Mahindra Pvt. Ltd. for their contributions to the apprenticeship sector.

Key figures present included Shri K. Sanjay Murthy, Secretary, Department of Higher Education; Prof. T.G. Sitharam, Chairman, AICTE; Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman, UGC; Shri Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairperson NETF; Shri Govind Jaiswal, Joint Secretary, MoE; and Shri Gaurav Singh, Director, Higher Education. The event also featured testimonies from two apprentices sharing their experiences.

Shri Pradhan stressed that in today's technology-driven age, education should not only focus on attaining degrees but also on building competencies. He called for a comprehensive strategy to utilize the country's demographic dividend and urged educational institutions and industries to adopt the NATS 2.0 portal to make apprenticeship a widespread movement.

The NATS 2.0 portal, developed by the Ministry of Education with support from AICTE and BoATs/BoPT, is a comprehensive solution for managing apprenticeship lifecycle activities. It handles student registration, vacancy advertisements, applications, contract creation, certification, reporting, and stipend disbursement through DBT. The portal, which has been operational in pilot mode with ongoing enhancements, is now fully functional for end-to-end DBT processing.

In line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which aims to mainstream vocational education and integrate it with general education, the draft guidelines for Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programmes (AEDP) have been issued by UGC and AICTE. This integration is intended to ensure vertical and horizontal mobility for students and enhance vocational training opportunities.