R Murugan, past national vice-president, BAI, said the association has already kicked off efforts in this regard in some states. "The Andhra Pradesh Builders' Association, part of BAI, has already started a training institute for construction workers.
This venture has the support of the state government, which has allotted 200 acres for setting up the institute," he said. The Tamil Nadu centre of the association has tied up with the Anna University in Chennai for a similar training facility.
On Kerala plans, he said BAI was in talks with authorities at the government level in a bid to convince the College of Engineering in Thiruvananthapuram to help set up a training facility on the lines of the Chennai centre. "BAI will start a training centre in Thiruvananthapuram as an when the authorities are ready for it," Murugan added.
According to P Ganesh, past state chairman of the body, BAI plans to provide formal training to around 5,000 students in the next two years as part of the initiative. "As per the Centre policy, the industrial training institutes (ITIs) in the country are being upgraded as centres of excellence. As part of this, three ITIs in and around Thiruvananthapuram would be upgraded to offer skills training to workers and students," he said.
A slew of issues concerning the construction industry, such as abnormal rise in raw material prices, anomalies in contract agreement drawn up by government institutions, and non-availability of manpower, were discussed a one-day meet of BAI held recently at Kovalam, he said, Murugan pointed out.