'States should chip in to upgrade ITIs'

The apex industry chambers of the country are of the view that the objective of upgrading Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) can only be accomplished, provided state governments are quick on their feet.

"The central government is doing as much as it can. The initiative now has to come from the states which are the actual owners of ITIs. Certain states like Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and others are extremely pro-active. This make the task of strengthening ITIs very easy. However, most of the state governments are due to get onboard," Harmeet Singh Sethi, director and head (skills development), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said.

"Till now we have received response only from Maharashtra where we have selected nine ITIs for improvement. We are awaiting a similar response from the rest of the states," said Amit Mitra, secretary general, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).

Last week, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had cleared the proposal of upgrading 1,396 ITIs across the country over five years (2007-08 to 2011-12).

CII and Ficci have already listed the ITIs they will be adopting. While CII has selected 147 ITIs, Ficci has chosen 50 to upgrade in the first year. Another industry body, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), will also come up with its list of selected ITIs soon.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has to be signed with respective state governments and the local industry partner. "The entire process will take few months after which the actual work will start," Mitra added.

A National Steering Committee by the ministry of labour and employment has been constituted for guiding the implementation and monitoring of the programme. "The committee will expedite the process of improvement," Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes said.

The committee has representation from industry associations as well as ministries like Human Resource Development (HRD), Micro Small and Medium enterprises, and the Department of Information Technology (IT).

According to the scheme, 1,396 ITIs will be upgraded in terms of course curriculum and infrastructure through public-private partnership. The total outlay for this plan is Rs 3,600 crore which will be spent over a period of five years (2007-08 to 2011-12).