Uttar Pradesh Mukhyamantri Shikshuta Protsahan Yojana

What is Uttar Pradesh Mukhyamantri Shikshuta Protsahan Yojana?

Uttar Pradesh Mukhyamantri Shikshuta Protsahan Yojana is the state's apprenticeship promotion scheme, run by the Labour Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh. The Hindi word shikshuta means apprenticeship, and protsahan means encouragement, the name states the purpose exactly. The scheme supports the monthly stipend paid to an apprentice engaged by an establishment located in Uttar Pradesh.

The problem it addresses is a familiar one in Indian labour markets. A young person leaving an ITI, a polytechnic or a degree course has a certificate but no shop-floor experience, and employers will not hire without experience. An apprenticeship is the recognised bridge: a fixed-term training engagement inside a real establishment, under the Apprentices Act, where the apprentice learns on live work and receives a stipend rather than a salary. Establishments, however, often avoid taking apprentices because a trainee costs money before contributing much. Government stipend support exists to remove that objection, and Uttar Pradesh's Mukhyamantri Shikshuta Protsahan Yojana is the state's contribution to it.

Two things about this scheme are important to grasp at the outset:

• The apprentice is not applying for a government grant. The stipend comes from the establishment, and the government reimburses a share of it. The apprentice's real task is to secure an apprenticeship contract.
• The whole mechanism runs off a registered apprenticeship contract. Without a contract created and registered on the national apprenticeship portal, there is nothing for any government share to attach to.

How does the apprenticeship stipend actually work?

Apprenticeship in India operates under the Apprentices Act, administered nationally through apprenticeshipindia.gov.in, which the Government of India runs as the common platform for candidates, establishments, contracts and stipend claims. That portal publishes the minimum stipend rates by qualification, the bands differ for a school pass candidate, an ITI holder, a diploma holder and a graduate, and the government share of the stipend under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS).

Uttar Pradesh's Mukhyamantri Shikshuta Protsahan Yojana sits on top of that national framework as the state's own stipend support for apprentices engaged by establishments in Uttar Pradesh. Because the notified rates and the state's share have been revised more than once, the accurate instruction is to confirm the current figures with the district Labour office or on the Labour Department toll-free number 1800-180-5160 rather than relying on a figure quoted on a private website. A stipend number carried forward from an old notification is the commonest piece of misinformation about this scheme.

Who is eligible under Mukhyamantri Shikshuta Protsahan Yojana?

You can benefit if:

• You are engaged as an apprentice by an establishment located in Uttar Pradesh.
• You hold the qualification the trade requires, a school pass, an ITI certificate, a diploma or a degree, depending on the apprenticeship band.
• You are registered as a candidate on the national apprenticeship portal apprenticeshipindia.gov.in.
• An apprenticeship contract has been created and registered between you and the establishment on that portal.
• You hold an operative, Aadhaar-seeded bank account in your own name to receive the stipend.

You cannot claim, or are not eligible, if:

• You have no registered apprenticeship contract. An informal arrangement with a workshop, however genuine the training, produces no claim.
• The establishment engaging you is outside Uttar Pradesh, in which case the state share does not apply even if you personally live in the state.
• You are a regular employee on a company's payroll. An employee is not an apprentice, and converting a payroll job into an apprenticeship on paper to draw stipend support is a misuse the Labour Department checks for.
• Your apprenticeship has already been completed — the support runs for the contracted apprenticeship period and stops when the term ends.
• You do not meet the trade's qualification requirement, since the band you fall into determines the stipend and the contract itself.

What documents are required?

How to apply for an apprenticeship under the scheme

1. Register as a candidate on the national apprenticeship portal apprenticeshipindia.gov.in, using your Aadhaar details, and complete your profile with your qualification, trade preference and district.
2. Upload your qualification certificate and photograph, and enter your bank account details, checking the account number and IFSC digit by digit.
3. Search for apprenticeship vacancies advertised by establishments in Uttar Pradesh and apply to those matching your trade and qualification.
4. Attend the establishment's selection process. Selection is the establishment's decision, not the Labour Department's, no government office can place you in a particular company.
5. Have the apprenticeship contract created and registered on the portal once an establishment selects you. Verify that the contract shows the correct trade, duration and stipend before you accept it.
6. Begin the apprenticeship and keep a copy of the registered contract and the contract number.
7. Check that the stipend reaches your bank account each month, and raise any shortfall immediately with the establishment's apprenticeship coordinator.
8. Contact the district Labour office or the Labour Department toll-free number 1800-180-5160 if the state share under Mukhyamantri Shikshuta Protsahan Yojana is not reflected in what you receive.

What should an establishment do?

An establishment in Uttar Pradesh that wants to engage apprentices and claim support registers itself on apprenticeshipindia.gov.in, declares its trades and seats, publishes vacancies, selects candidates, and creates the apprenticeship contracts on the portal. The stipend is paid by the establishment to the apprentice, and the government share is reimbursed against the registered contracts. The district Labour office is the working contact for the state share under Mukhyamantri Shikshuta Protsahan Yojana, including the current rate and the claim process.

Why claims fail

• No registered contract on the portal, only an informal training arrangement.
• Contract details wrong, trade, duration or stipend recorded incorrectly at the time of creation, which is very difficult to correct afterwards.
• Establishment located outside Uttar Pradesh, taking it outside the state scheme.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, dormant, or in someone else's name.
• Name mismatch between Aadhaar, the qualification certificate and the bank record.
• Apprenticeship period already ended, since support runs only for the contracted term.
• Apprentice is in fact a payroll employee, which disqualifies the engagement.

Help and grievance redressal

• Uttar Pradesh Labour Department toll-free: 1800-180-5160, with the landlines 0512-2295176 and 0512-2297142 published for quick resolution of workers' problems.
• District Labour Office (Shram Vibhag). The working contact for the state stipend share, contract questions and payment delays.
• National apprenticeship portal helpdesk on apprenticeshipindia.gov.in for registration and contract problems on the portal itself.
• Jansunwai at jansunwai.up.nic.in for a written grievance against the Labour Department, quoting your apprenticeship contract number.

Registration as a candidate on the apprenticeship portal is free. No agent can charge a fee for "arranging an apprenticeship seat", and any demand for money in exchange for a contract should be reported to the district Labour office.

Because the stipend rate and the state's share under Mukhyamantri Shikshuta Protsahan Yojana are set by government notification and have been revised, treat the district Labour office as the authority on the current figure and confirm it before you accept an apprenticeship offer on the strength of an advertised number.

How to check your application status

There is no separate "application status" to track in the way a subsidy or scholarship portal shows one, because the apprentice is not applying for a grant directly. What you are actually tracking is the registered apprenticeship contract and the monthly stipend credit, and the checks differ at each stage.

1. While your candidate registration is under review. Log in to your account on apprenticeshipindia.gov.in and open your candidate dashboard. It shows whether your profile is complete, whether your qualification certificate has been accepted, and whether you have any pending applications to establishments.

2. After you apply to a vacancy. The same dashboard lists every vacancy you have applied to and marks whether the establishment has shortlisted, selected, or not responded to your application. Selection itself happens on the establishment's side, so a long silence usually means the establishment has not acted yet, not that the portal has lost your application.

3. Once an establishment selects you. Check the portal for the contract stage. A contract must be created and then digitally accepted by both you and the establishment before it is treated as registered. An unsigned or half-completed contract is the single most common status confusion applicants report, so confirm the contract shows as fully registered, not merely drafted.

4. After the apprenticeship begins. There is no month-by-month "claim status" screen for the state share. Instead, check your bank passbook or bank SMS alerts for the stipend credit each month and compare it against the rate mentioned in your registered contract.

5. If the state's share seems missing or short. Contact the establishment's apprenticeship coordinator first, since the stipend is paid by the establishment and the government share is reimbursed against it, not paid to you directly. If the coordinator cannot resolve it, call the Uttar Pradesh Labour Department toll-free number 1800-180-5160, or approach the district Labour office in person with your registered contract number.

6. For a written follow-up. Use the jansunwai.up.nic.in grievance portal, quoting your apprenticeship contract number, if a phone or in-person query with the district Labour office has not resolved the issue.

Keep your contract number and the establishment's coordinator's contact details noted down from day one. Every status check above, whether on the portal, over the phone, or through Jansunwai, moves faster when you can quote that number instead of describing the apprenticeship in general terms.