Digital India Campaign to accelerate in Varanasi

National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology is considering to open a centre in Varanasi to impart skills to 2 mn youths

The parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Varanasi, could become a focal point under the National Digital Literacy Mission and Digital India Campaign.

Entrusted with the target of skilling two million youth yearly for the next three years, National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) is mulling to open a centre in Varanasi.

NIELIT is an autonomous body under the department of electronics and information technology, Union ministry of communications and information technology (IT).

It works towards electronics and IT training of youth. NIELIT has acquired even more importance following the Make in India campaign of the Modi government that seeks to position the country as a major manufacturing hub in the world. NIELIT already has two centres in Lucknow and Gorakhpur. Gorakhpur centre has been identified as the nodal centre for IT security-related courses offering virtual classroom facilities.

“We are looking at the possibility of opening another centre, probably in Varanasi,” NIELIT Managing Director Ashwini Kumar Sharma told Business Standard here. He said if the  proposal was approved, the state government would be urged to provide land for the project.

Besides, NIELIT is keen to partner with the state polytechnics and Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), so that students get up-to-date and industry-oriented curriculum.

“We have tied up with Intel, wherein the company would vet our IT training curriculum according to current needs of the industry. This would ensure optimum employability of the students, as their training manual would be aligned with technological advancements,” he said.

For skill development activities, NIELIT works closely with accredited partners and facilitation centres across India. Last year, almost a million students were digitally trained through the initiatives of NIELIT of which Uttar Pradesh accounted for about 60 per cent of the students.