ITIs under PPP fail to click in MP

After four years of launch of a government scheme to upgrade Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) into Centre of Excellence under the public-private partnership model, the private partners feel harassed and are planning to quit their participation in the project.

As many as 40 ITIs had been chosen in 2006 for upgrade through the PPP model wherein the Centre has chipped in with Rs 2.5 crore for each ITI. The state government had to form management committees for these ITI by choosing small and medium industrialists as chairmen on board. There are five members from private companies and five from government. But in absence of proper monitoring coupled with babudom and negative attitude of government machinery, the ITIs have become worst place for industrial training.

“I have no control under on the principal of my ITI, he listens more to his superior as I have no penal powers in the committees to take action, there is enough fund and we can train students in a better way but local politics and negative attitude of the staffers have put everything in jeopardy,” Sunil Bharagav chairman Mandideep ITI said.

In far flung areas none monitors the infrastructure, principals and faculty hardly attend the training institutes. “Either they (principal and faculty) live in nearby towns or they play truant often. We do not have any option. The quality of training is so poor that students even cannnot perform ordinary jobs like fitting,” Ramchandra Shah, chairman of Niwas, (near Mandla) ITI said.

Four years is a long period, said another chairman. The government must come forward and control the administrative mechanism if this PPP model has to be successful. “The Central and state government both need a proper monitoring system. I had been asked to get myself involve in a fishy deal. But when I refused, the principal and other staff warned me to lose the position,” Devendrapal Singh Chawla, chairman of ITI Sagar said.

Business Standard spoke to a cross section of chairman of ITI and found that all machines and apparatus installed in these training institutes are time-worn and needs immediate replacement but government is not ready. According to various charpersons, the principals of the ITI need to be taught better administrative mechanism.

Speaking to Business Standard, Laxmikant Sharma, minister for technical education said, “We are looking for possible options to improve the situation however it will take some more time. As regards principals late arrival we will have a better monitoring system soon.”

f the total 203 ITIs, Madhya Pradesh has 151 government owned ITIs and of them 58 have no building of their own, curriculum is age-old , machine and tools are primitive. All courses need to be redesigned and modern machine-tools are needed at each ITI . The new scheme launched in 2006 had a total outlay of Rs 3,665 crore. The state yet falls short of national level in terms of technical education, out-dated technical courses and poor infrastructure facility.

The state government had picked up various private partners from various industries and appointed them as chairmen of as many as 37 ITIs .