Draft affiliation norms ease the compliance burden for 'new-age ITIs'

To strengthen integration between industry and the vocational-training sector, the latest draft affiliation norms on Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) have eased the compliance burden for a new category of “New Age ITIs”.

Released last week by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) for stakeholder consultation, the new norms state these “New age ITIs” will not follow the normal queue of affiliation application.

“A separate section will be introduced on the designated affiliation portal, with a defined timeline of four months for affiliation decisions. The affiliation portal for New Age ITI shall remain open throughout the year to facilitate a continuous application process,” the draft affiliation norms state. 

The new draft norms come when ITIs have emerged as the focal point for skilling, with the FY25 Budget announcing a scheme that will upgrade 1,000 ITIs in a hub-and-spoke arrangement. This scheme targets skilling 2 million youths over five years. 

Earlier last month, the ministry had released the latest annual grading of about 15,000 ITIs under the annual-data driven grading methodology (DDGM). This new method of grading showed an improvement in performance of these institutes, with 18.9 per cent of the ITIs scoring more than eight on a scale of 0-10 this year compared to 12.4 per cent of the ITIs in the grading conducted last year. 

A private organisation or a public-sector enterprise can open a “New Age ITI” or can adopt and transform an existing ITI into a new-age ITI. 

Any industry as defined under Section 2(p) of the Industrial Code, 2020, including limited companies, private limited companies, state undertakings, public-sector establishments or central-sector establishments with a minimum strength of 500 employees (regular plus contractual) and a minimum annual turnover of Rs 250 crore and positive net worth during the last three financial years can apply for “New Age ITIs”.

The current mandatory requirement of four trades for opening a new ITI has been waived for these institutions, allowing them to offer any number of industry-relevant courses. Additionally, there is no constraint on land requirement on them.

Besides, these institutes can offer existing courses by the Directorate General of Training (DGT) along with new-age courses such as those for artificial-intelligence programming assistants, 5G network technicians, cyber-security assistants and drone technicians, apart from 3D printing. 

Other relaxations include allowing these institutes to decide their criteria for identifying and selecting candidates and determining their fee structures.

“The revised norms are aligned with the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasises the significance of vocational education in creating a skilled and capable workforce.

The 2024 norms place stronger emphasis on collaboration between ITIs and industry stakeholders, recognising the critical role of industry partnership,” state the latest draft affiliation norms.  

Besides, the norms provide for establishing ITIs within the spare capacity of polytechnics and engineering colleges to promote the optimal use of existing resources and enhance training capacity with minimal investment.