Maruti trains youth in five Gujarat ITIs

Maruti Suzuki India might have delayed its proposed plant in Gujarat owing to dull market conditions, the company, however, is very much on track with the skill development initiatives it has taken up in the state.

Maruti has adopted five industrial training institutes (ITIs) in Gujarat where it is working closely with faculty to train students. The company had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government for adopting ITIs in Viramgam, Becharji, Detroj, Kadi and Mandal last year, informed a senior state government official. All these are located near the company's proposed manufacturing facility in Gujarat.

The first batch of trainees at these institutes started in March 2013, and over 400 local youth are expected to receive training at these institutes. This would also ensure the availability of skilled manpower to the Maruti Suzuki plant at Mandal when it comes up.

A company spokesperson said, " Our key focus is on working with the faculty and administration of these ITIs to improve the employability and job prospects of students studying here. We find that while students from ITIs are well trained, there is still a gap between what students know and what the industry requires. All our efforts are to bridge this gap and make them readily employable." Besides, offering support in infrastructure improvement, faculty training, exposure to manufacturing facilities it also trains the students in Japanese work practices.

"We adopt an IMC (Institute Management Committee) approach, where a senior company official becomes a mentor of the ITI. He charts out specific training and infrastructure improvement programmes for the institute. Basically engagement levels are much higher," he added.

Meanwhile, in another public private partnership initiative, the company is running a driving training institute in Vadodara, where it is training the tribal people of the region. Mahesh Rajoria, general manager, driving training & loyalty program and director of the Institute of Driving Training and Research (IDTR) said, "This initiative started in 2009 as a PPP with the Gujarat government, after officials in the state government department of tribal welfare invited us to replicate IDTR we were running already in Delhi region."

He added that while Maruti already runs IDTRs in Delhi, Haryana and Gujarat, it is planning to open more in Orissa and Bihar soon. The Vadodara IDTR has already trained around 4,200 tribal youths in driving skills.