The Tamil Nadu government has taken up an ambitious project, involving an investment of nearly ₹2,880 crore, for upgrading 71 industrial training institutes (ITIs) as technology centres.
The project, which will create 5,140 more seats in the chosen ITIs, envisages the launch of Industry 4.0 standard trades — five long-term trades and 23 short-term trades.
The courses will cover areas such as manufacturing process control and automation, industrial robotics and digital manufacturing, electric vehicle and Internet of Things, besides advanced plumbing, welding and painting technologies.
Civil work is in progress at all ITIs for accommodating additional classrooms and machinery. Prefabricated structures are being constructed through the Public Works Department and the Tamil Nadu Police Housing Corporation (TNPHC). For this component, the government has sanctioned about ₹265 crore at the rate of ₹3.73 crore per ITI. At a meeting held on Friday last to review the progress of the project, it was decided that the civil work be completed in two months, a top government official said.
Once the civil work is over, the machinery and equipment will be installed in four months. There will also be the integration of relevant software applications.
“Our idea is to keep everything ready by early August, when the admission process will begin. Admission goes on till October-end,” says another official, adding that for the execution of the project, the government has signed an agreement with Tata Technologies, Pune. The project cost is being shared between the State government and the corporate entity in the ratio of 12.5:87.5.
The project will benefit approximately 29,000 candidates of the ITIs. As there are 91 ITIs, the government has worked out a plan to cover the candidates of the remaining 20 ITIs.
Meanwhile, the government has issued an order, approving the establishment of 11 more ITIs, which will create around 2,000 seats. Totally, there will be 33,772 seats: the existing 26,632 seats at 91 ITIs and the proposed addition of 5,140 seats through the upgrade. The order on the new ITIs has made it clear that language-cum-soft skill lab instructors should be recruited on contract.
With all these measures, the officials hope to drive up the admission rate next year from what it was this year. Even this year, 51 of the 91 ITIs recorded full admission. Only four posted a lower rate this year than the last year.
Published - November 30, 2022 12:27 am IST
