Bhubaneswar: In an aim to make youths employable as per industry needs, the state government has decided to transform ITIs and polytechnic institutions in mineral bearing areas into Centres of Excellence (CoEs).
This was revealed at a high-level meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy recently where Skill Development and Technical Education secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh presented the need and feasibility of such institutions.
It was decided at the meeting to develop ITI Jajpur as a CoE in automation technology, Jajpur polytechnic in advanced wielding and Baripada ITI in thermal cutting & wielding. A mini tool room will be set up at ITI Takatpur.
Similarly, proposals to upgrade ITIs at Karanja, Udala, Kaptipada, Anandpur, Barbil, Jharsuguda, Barkot and Rourkela and Mayurbhnaj polytechnic, , OSME Keonjhar, Jharsuguda Engineering School, Deogarh polytechnic and UGIE Rourkela to CoEs in different advanced technologies were also discussed and approved by the government.
Modernisation work at ITI Barbil, Mining Engineering Keonjhar, ITI Rourkela, UGIE Rourkela with furnishing of IT labs, life skill classes, workshops, modern class rooms, residential facilities etc have been completed, Singh said.
The Union government has recognised ITI Barbil as a model ITI in the country. Considering the need for CoEs, the Chief Secretary directed officials to develop such institutions in districts coming under Odisha Mineral Bearing Area Development Corporation (OMBADC) for expanding employment avenues.
Tripathy further directed to start the new-age trades like drone piloting, solar technology, smart agriculture, smart horticulture, robotics, mechatronics, additive manufacturing technology etc as per their demand in different ITIs and polytechnics.
He also advised the officials concerned to scale up internal resource generating activities with modern workshops and labs of these institutions so as to make the courses self-sustainable. It was decided to run the new skill classes in collaboration with industry partners as per their manpower requirement.
Presently, industry collaborative CoEs have been established at ITIs in Cuttack, Pattamundai and Balasore.
Review revealed that three mini tool rooms have been commissioned at ITI Cuttack, Berhampur and Hirakud in collaboration with Central Tool & Training Center (CTTC), Bhubaneswar. The components for Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are being manufactured at ITI-Cuttack, sources said.
Eleven ITIs of Odisha (seven government-run and four private) have been ranked among top-100 ITIs of India in Phase-II ranking of the year 2019-20.