Now, industry to have say in ITIs’ decision-making

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune New Service

Chandigarh, June 28

The functioning of the government industrial training institutes (ITIs) is set to come under the industrial leadership. The decision aims at integrating the functioning of the ITIs with the corporate sector and to create industry-ready workforce.

Under the innovative Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE), programme, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), in collaboration with the state government and the industry partners, will designate certain “high-performing” ITIs in industrial hubs as nodes. “Besides, five to eight relatively less-developed ITIs will be identified as affiliates and will be supported by each node,” sources said.

They said each group of nodes and affiliates would form an ITI cluster each of which would be managed by a multi-sectoral institute management board. Initially, the board would be formed by merging all currently functioning institute management committees of each cluster.

“To create industry-compatible workforce, the main emphasis would be on the creation of infrastructure and procurement of machinery and equipment in these ITI clusters,” the sources said. The programme is set to be implemented from the current financial year.

The sources said the implementation of the new programme would go a long way in loosening the government control over the ITIs and provide more say to the industrial sector. “This way, the management committees will be able to take decisions which would be more in tune with the industrial aspirations,” the sources added.