The Hindu Business Line : IL&FS arm to work with FICCI to upgrade ITIs

Chennai April 29 IL&FS Education and Technology Services Ltd and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to upgrade the various Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) across the country.

The MoU takes forward the Centre's initiative to upgrade 1,396 ITIs. In his Budget speech, the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, proposed that these ITIs be upgraded into centres of excellence in specific trades and skills, under the public-private partnership model.

The scheme he outlined envisaged a tripartite agreement with a private sector organisation, state government and the central government. Once an agreement was firmed up, the Centre would provide an interest-free loan up to Rs 2.5 crore per ITI for upgradation and revision of the course.

Autonomy

The Budget set apart Rs 750 crore for this purpose. The new management of the ITI would also be given academic and financial autonomy, Mr Chidambaran had said in his speech.

IL&FS (which is understood to have provided inputs for the formation of the scheme) now intends to take up the task in collaboration with FICCI. A team that will be soon set up by the two organisations will map various industries across the country, the skill sets they require and the manpower in the `catchment area'.

For example, it will find out what sort of skills are required by the marble cutting industry in Rajasthan and hosiery units in Tirupur.

Skilled manpower

IL&FS and FICCI will facilitate content creation, curriculum design and set up a trainers programme. They will also monitor expenditure of the Government's assistance and provide support in activities such as refurbishing the ITI buildings and bringing in equipment.

IL&FS has done this before. It helped set up textile parks, canalised government grant into the holding companies of the clusters. Today, there are 25 textile parks across the country. IL&FS intends to use this experience in doing up the ITIs too.

Skilled manpower shortage is something that IL&FS knows of from its textile-park experience. A highly-placed source in the company told Business Line that each park would typically need about 25,000 skilled hands and the supply was woefully inadequate.

Textile units somehow muddle through with some on-the-job training, but the result is under-productivity. The ITI-initiative is one step in addressing such issues, sources said.

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