Govt mulls expanding ITI to accommodate 1 lakh students

The Delhi government is considering expanding the capacity of Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in the city to absorb one lakh students with a projected outlay of Rs 1,000 crore, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said while inaugurating an ITI at Mangolpuri on Wednesday. 

He added that the AAP government is keen to ensure employability in the private sector that has more jobs in realty. The Delhi government on Wednesday claimed to have saved Rs 8 crore in the construction of an ITI in Mangolpuri area of West Delhi.

“The estimated cost of this project was Rs 24.2 crore while the construction work was completed with an expenditure of Rs 15.9 crore. The net saving in this project is Rs 8.3 crore,” Kejriwal announced while inaugurating a new ITI college in Mangolpuri.

Addressing the gathering, he said that earlier also the Delhi government saved approximately Rs 300 crore in the construction of three flyovers at different places in the national Capital.

“It is happening for the first time in the history that construction projects are being completed on fewer amounts than the estimated cost. We are saving money in every project,” he added.

He said that the AAP government is committed to provide quality education and employment to the youth.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was also present on this occasion, said the Delhi University-Centric approach would not work any more and promised to bring ITI centres at par with the Delhi University.

‘Every year about 2.5 lakh students pass out from Class XII of whom 1.25 lakh are absorbed in existing colleges but the remaining, most of them from poor backgrounds, fail to get admission,’ Sisodia said. He said the government is planning to accord “Class XII” and “part diploma” status to the ITI courses so that students pursuing the courses after class 10 or class 12 could join graduation and diploma courses respectively, in future.

“The government is working on this scheme which will also require approval of the Central government,” he said.

“The Delhi government is considering expanding the capacity of ITIs in the city to absorb one lakh students with a projected expenditure of Rs 1,000 crore,” he said. The Chief Minister also thanked former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit for initiating the project. The foundation stone of ITI Mongolpuri was laid in August 2008 and construction was completed in July 2015.