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Apprentices Act, 1961

Section 23: Authorities

Section 23 of the Apprentices Act, 1961 explained with current 2025-26 amendments, employer controls, evidence and connected Rules.

Law Hub L8Data reviewed on 17 July 2026India-first compliance

What section 23 does

Identifies the statutory authorities responsible for apprenticeship governance.

Connected instrument: Rules and government notifications

Finin2min practical reading

  • Identify the apprentice category, trade, establishment jurisdiction and applicable portal before applying the provision.
  • Separate statutory apprenticeship from internships, probation, traineeships and ordinary employment.
  • Do not treat scheme reimbursement as a substitute for the employer’s underlying statutory obligations.
  • Preserve the contract, approvals, portal trail and training evidence as one auditable file.

Employer control and evidence pack

  • Executed/registered contract and portal acknowledgement
  • Training plan, attendance/work diary and supervisor records
  • Stipend bank/DBT evidence where relevant
  • Adviser approval, correspondence or order where the section requires it

Statutory text extract

Extracted from the bundled official/consolidated source. For sections amended in 2026, the current overlay above controls over older consolidated wording.

23. Authorities.—(1) In addition to the Government there shall be the following authorities under
this Act, namely:—
          (a) The National Council,
          (b) The Central Apprenticeship Council,
          (c) The State Council,
          (d) The State Apprenticeship Council,
          2
           [(e) The All India Council,
          (f) The Regional Boards,
          (g) The Boards or State Councils of Technical Education,]
          3
           [(h)] The Central Apprenticeship Adviser, and
          4
           [(i)] The State Apprenticeship Adviser.
   (2) Every State Council shall be affiliated to the National Council and every State Apprenticeship
Council shall be affiliated to the Central Apprenticeship Council.
     2
      [(2A) Every Board or State Council of Technical Education and every Regional Board shall be
affiliated to the Central Apprenticeship Council.]
   (3) Each of the authorities specified in sub-section (1) shall, in relation to apprenticeship training
under this Act, perform such functions as are assigned to it by or under this Act or by the Government:
3.Item (e) re-lettered as item (h) thereof by s. 17, ibid. (w.e.f. 1-12-1974).
4. Item (f) re-lettered as item (i) thereof by s. 17, ibid. (w.e.f. 1-12-1974).

                                                                    17

    Provided that a State Council shall also perform such functions as are assigned to it by the National
Council and the State Apprenticeship Council 1[and the Board or State Council of Technical Education]
shall also perform such functions as are assigned to it by the Central Apprenticeship Council.
                                         STATE AMENDMENT
Rajasthan
         Amendment of section 23, Central Act No. 52 of 1961.— For the existing sub-section (2)
of section 23 of the principal Act, the following shall be substituted, namely:-
         “(2) Every State Council may be affiliated to the National Council and every State
Apprenticeship Council may be affiliated to the Central Apprenticeship Council.”.
[Vide Rajasthan Act 2 of 2015, s. 7]

Compliance consequence

Failure should be tested against sections 30, 31 and 31A as in force from 22 June 2026, alongside contract termination/compensation consequences and any portal or scheme action.

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