The private sector will partner the government to upgrade 400 existing ITIs throughout the country over the next five years at a cost of Rs 1,581 crore.
NEW DELHI: The private sector will partner the government to upgrade 400 existing industrial training institutes (ITIs) throughout the country over the next five years at a cost of Rs 1,581 crore. The World Bank has sanctioned an assistance of $ 280 million for this vocational training improvement project.
“Industry will be involved in all aspects of the training from development of curriculum to final trade testing,” finance minister P Chidambaram said on Thursday after the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) approved the ambitious skill upgradation project aimed at meeting the growing manpower requirements of the country’s growing economy.
The ITIs will be upgraded through the public-private partnership mechanism under trilateral MoUs to be signed by the Centre, the respective state governments and the industry partner, Chidambaram said.
The captains of industry in a meeting with the coordination committee on affirmative action headed by the principal secretary to the Prime Minister T K A Nair last month had agreed to take up upgradation of 300 ITIs and train a larger number of youth from weaker sections to make them employable.
The objective of the vocational training improvement project is to improve the employment outcomes of graduates from the training system, by making the design and delivery of training more demand responsive, Chidambaram said. The Centre will share 75% of the cost of the project and the states will chip in 25%. The Centre will fund 90% of the cost in the case of ITIs in special category states of North-East and Sikkim.
The CCEA also decided to continue with 100% compulsory packing of foodgrain and sugar in jute bags during the 2007-08 jute year, Chidambaram said. Consumer packs of 25 kg and below and exports packaging will, however, be exempt from the purview of the jute packaging order. Sugar fortified with vitamins will also be exempt, he said.
The implementation of Jute Packaging Material Act, 1987, and the National Jute Policy, 2005, will provide sustenance to millions of people engaged in the jute sector, Chidambaram said.
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