On Congress manifesto table: Germany-style apprenticeship, paper leak compensation

Having decided to frame unemployment as one of its major talking points against the BJP government during the Lok Sabha poll campaign, the Congress is set to come up with some “out of the box” promises in its manifesto to ease joblessness and soften the blow of repeated exam paper leaks, hoping they would strike a chord with the youth.

The Congress think tank is said to be looking at the much-praised apprenticeship model of Germany and tailoring it for Indian conditions.

The German dual education model (vocational education and training system) allows smooth education-to-work transitions with young people getting on-the-job time at a company while studying at a vocational school.

The model, Congress leaders believe, offers the youth an attractive way to enter the job market. The challenge is to tailor the model to suit Indian conditions since the private sector as well as the public sector will have to be involved.

Sources said the Congress’s manifesto committee, headed by former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, is in the last stages of drafting the document.

The Congress hopes the apprenticeship model that it is likely to propose can strike a chord with the aspirational India, especially the urban youth. The party is said to be working out the nitty-gritty of the proposal including details like the duration of the apprenticeship period and stipend.

“The model will give the young people the headstart for a job… They will become more employable… It is also like the right to a job. Anybody can demand and get a job for a year,” sources said.

The party is also said to be working on a promise to soften the blow of repeated question paper leaks which has resulted in cancellation of several examinations across states.

The Central