Centre de-affiliates 400 ITIs for failing quality norms

The government has de-affiliated close to 400 industrial training institutes after quality inspections administered by it found the institutes lacking the requisite infrastructure and trainers for imparting vocational training to students.

Asked about around 400 out of the 13,000-odd ITIs being de-affiliated, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajesh Agarwal replied in the affirmative.

"We get (them) inspected, we see the quality of infrastructure, the trainers that should be there as per the guidelines.

"When it is not there the ITIs are de-affiliated because ultimately if you have to be an ITI at the NCVT (National Council for Vocational Training) level, there are certain minimum conditions that you have to meet," Agarwal told PTI.

He said the skill development ministry has begun monitoring the ITIs with a view to maintaining their quality standards and also introduced voluntary self grading by the institutes.

"We are trying to see that centres or institutes which are not up to the mark or quality are slowly chucked out of the system," Agarwal said.

The government's vocational training programmes are administered by ITIs, whichcater to about 36 per cent of the seven million people enrolled invarious training programmes in India.

According to Agarwal, about 5,100 ITIs have been gradedtill now under the star rating system and are presently in theprocess of getting inspected through third parties andcertification assessment.

"It is a voluntary process. We are trying to build incentives around grading. ITIs who get graded and are doing well, there are incentives for them to grow, whereas the ones not getting graded will slowly phase out," the Joint Secretary said.  -- PTI