Apprenticeship must be promoted to address unemployment of educated youth: Santosh Mehrotra

Eminent development economist Santosh Mehrotra has called for greater promotion of apprenticeship programmes as an effective strategy to address the growing problem of unemployment among educated youth. He observed that work experience is highly valued in the labour market and that apprenticeships provide young people with an opportunity to acquire such experience.

Dr. Mehrotra was delivering the Dr. K.N. Raj Memorial Lecture jointly organised by COSTFORD and the Achutha Menon Study and Research foundation on the topic “India Out of Work: Rethinking the Growth Story“ on Wednesday (June 24, 2026).

Dr. Mehrotra pointed out that studies show nearly 70% of young people who undergo apprenticeship training secure employment in the same establishments where they receive training. He noted that Kerala has the highest rate of unemployment among graduates in India and stressed that greater participation of the private sector is essential to tackle this challenge.

While the National Education Policy (NEP) speaks about skill development, it is not adequate to make young people employment-ready, he said.

Dr. Mehrotra further observed that the concept of the labour market itself does not find adequate place in the policy framework.

Commenting on economic policies, Dr. Mehrotra stated that demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) did not contribute significantly to employment growth. He also noted that foreign direct investment (FDI) has not generated the expected expansion in employment opportunities.

Former Chief Secretary S.M. Vijayanand delivered the Achutha Menon Memorial Address.