ITIs set to emerge as resource centres for skilled workforce

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 29

The government-run Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the state are all set to be the resource centres for providing industry-relevant skilled workforce to various trades, from tractor manufacturing units to the hospitality industry.

The pilot project of the Department of Technical Education and Industrial Training to involve reputed names of the industry for the training of nearly 1,000 ITI students has yielded results.

‘Training as per needs’

We have got a good response from the industry where the students were imparted training. They have been trained as per the requirements of the respective units. — Anurag Verma, Secretary, Department of Technical Education

By the year-end, many such ITI trainees are looking forward to joining the units where they trained, as per the requirement of the respective industries.

Sharing his experience, 20-year-old Arshdeep Singh, who hails from a lower income group family, said he had never dreamt of getting training at a five-star hotel as part of his one-year diploma in food production at the ITI, Amritsar.

Though it was cut short due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the industry-relevant skill training has enthused confidence in the youngster, who has been assured a job at the hotel on the completion of his diploma. Arshdeep’s batchmate Jasnoor Singh is buoyed by the exposure during the training at a five-star hotel. “It has changed the way I thought about the hotel industry,” he said.

“We have got a good response from the industry where the students were imparted training. They have been trained as per the requirements of the respective units. The students have got training in industry-relevant skills at reputed places, like Hero Cycles, Avon Cycles, Swaraj Engines Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra, Federal-Mogul, Godrej & Boyce Ltd, Sonalika, Hotel Hyatt and Hotel Taj,” said Anurag Verma, Secretary, Department of Technical Education.

Propelled by the success of the pilot project and response from the industry, the department now proposes to train nearly 10,000 students.

Explaining the concept, Verma said it was a “dual system” that enabled an amalgamation of theoretical training imparted through the ITIs and practical training through the industry, removing the disconnect between the trainees and the industry requirement.