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Latest News |
| 31th
March 2010 / Times of India / Mumbai Edition |
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ITIs in a sorry state: Vocational training director
Mumbai: A week ago, higher and technical education minister
Rajesh Tope moved an ambitious proposal to operate the
407-and-odd industrial training institutes (ITIs) to mobilise
additional skilled manpower. After a cursory glance over
the current intake capacity vis-a-vis vacant seats, it
appears that before making the announcement, Tope had
not done adequate homework.
“We have 407 ITIs, with a total intake capacity
of 77,160. From official records, it’s clear that
barring ITIs in big cities like Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur,
seats in ITIs in rural parts of Maharashtra were lying
vacant,” a senior official told TOI on Tuesday.
Significantly, the state of affairs in the ITIs has been
disclosed by none other than J D Bhutange, director of
vocational education and training, in his January 1, 2010,
letter to all the senior officials of the directorate.
“In the 56 ITIs in tribal areas, we have been able
to fill up less than 25% of the intake capacity,”
Bhutange pointed out in his two-page communique.
Bhutange has drawn attention to poor governance, grossly
inadequate infrastructure, poor monitoring quality, lack
of control of joint directors, district vocational education
and training officers, and poor maintenance of machinery
and equipment at the ITIs.
Bhutange said at most ITIs, there was complete lack of
punctuality, irregular attendance by employees and students,
teaching work has not begun six months after the commencement
of the academic session, no action has been taken against
erring students, and, so far, no stipend has been paid
to students.
On the poor infrastructure, the director said idle and
obsolete equipment were lying in the premises of most
ITIs and no steps have been taken for setting up basic
training programmes. Above all, there was no work culture
at the ITIs. Expressing concerns over the joint directors’
lack of control, Bhutange said it was unfortunate that
they themselves were not following administrative rules,
there were less than 25% admissions in ITIs in tribal
and hilly areas, and no directives have been given for
improving the administration.
The senior official said, “Bhutange’s letter
is alarming. Prima facie, it appears that the existing
ITIs are not operating according to the norms prescribed
by the state government. Under such circumstances, if
Tope proceeds with his proposal to operate the ITIs in
three shifts, it will be a futile exercise. Since we will
recruit more than 2,000 additional staff, it will result
in uncalledfor burden on the state exchequer,” the
senior official said.
The official said while Tope’s intention was to
expand the scope of vocational education, it appears that
more emphasis will be placed on equipment and recruitment.
“Tope must review the situation afresh on the basis
of Bhutange’s observations and then take a decision,”
he said.
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