What section 28 does
Treats specified apprenticeship advisers as public servants for legal purposes.
Connected instrument: Public-servant status
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.
28. Apprenticeship Advisers to be public servants.—Every Apprenticeship Adviser and3[every Additional, Joint, Regional, Deputy or Assistant Apprenticeship Adviser] appointed under this Act shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
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.