Govt proposes revival of apprenticeship programme to Indian Railways

The Ministry of Finance has proposed restarting a 94-year old apprenticeship programme to the Indian Railways that was terminated in 2015 to groom talent and prepare them for the needs of the rail transportation industry.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) selected candidates to train in the undergraduate programme in mechanical engineering at the Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Jamalpur, under the Special Class Railway Apprentice (SCRA) programme, which began in 1927.

In 2015, the scheme was phased out.

The finance ministry has recommended the Ministry of Railways to reintroduce the programme, which involves hands-on training in the specialised field of technology used in railways, in its report on the rationalisation of railways.

The proposal is part of a report from the finance ministry that includes several recommendations, including the consolidation of rail PSUs as well as IT organisations like RailTel, CRIS, and IRCTC into a single entity.

The National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI), Vadodara, has recommended that the apprenticeship scheme be reintroduced in the railways, according to a report prepared by the finance ministry's principal economic advisor.

The current practice of taking graduates from traditional academic institutions and spending resources to retrain them in rail-specific technology, according to the finance ministry, results in a drain of industry resources and delays the induction of such specialised manpower.

The report said that the railways require specialised training and skills beyond what can be obtained through a traditional classroom graduation programme offered by traditional academic institutions and that it is critical to reintroduce the apprenticeship scheme, which provides hands-on training in the specialised field of technology used in railways.

Various committees, including the Bibek Debroy Committee, have emphasised the benefits of the apprenticeship programme, even suggesting that the SCRA route be extended to all railway departments rather than just the mechanical department.

While it is unclear whether the railways will resume the scheme soon, it was very popular among students.

Between 2007 and 2014, 8,02,137 people applied for 318 SCRA positions through the UPSC's competitive examination.

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