Snag hampers ITI admission process

Hundreds of admission seekers in government and private industrial training institutes (ITIs) are at the receiving end as a technical glitch in the portal is hampering the entire process.

For academic session 2025-2026, counselling that usually starts in May commenced in July. The 145 government and 183 private ITIs have 52,000 and 24,000 seats, respectively.

So far, 20,000 seats had been filled at the government and around 500 at private institutes.

Technical Education Minister Harjot Bains has recently announced an increase in the ITI seats from 25,000 in 2023 to 52,000 this year. The department had introduced 814 new trades, designed to meet industry needs and driven by market demand, he said.

Acknowledging the problem, a government functionary said the things would be sorted out in the next couple of days.

Students said they were not able to access the trades they wanted to opt for and couldn’t upload their documents.

A decision to seek one-time annual admission fee of Rs 3,350 for government and Rs 19,315 for private ITIs has also hampered the admission process as most students come from poor economic background.

“Now, the department has decided to accept the fee on a quarterly basis. The system has been streamlined,” said the official.

Shimanshu Gupta, chief of the Punjab Private ITI Association, said fee of private ITIs should be credited into their accounts, instead of the fee being deposited into the department’s account.