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Bengal

Technical Education department cancels affiliation of 68 training providers over gross irregularities

Kolkata: The state Technical Education department has cancelled affiliations with 68 training providers, after gross irregularities were found in the execution of the training programmes.

The training providers were roped in by the Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) under the aegis of National Skill Development Corporation, to offer training under PBSSD (Paschim Banga Society for Skill Development) for placement linked short-term skill training in the state.

"In case of a number of training providers we found that their training programmes were having 100 percent attendance, which involved a few lakh students. We made surprise field visits and found that they were manipulating the attendance and there was hardly any sort of training being provided. They were simply siphoning government money in the name of providing training. We had showcaused some 120-odd training providers and after enquiry, have washed our hands off 68 such training providers," said minister of Technical Education, Training and Skill Development Purnendu Basu, at a programme to mark 100 years of the George Telegraph Training Institute (GTTI).

Basu added that after the stringent action, the service providers that are now providing training under PBSSD have been found to be very serious regarding their task.

It may be mentioned that the Technical Education, Training and Skill Development department has launched Utkarsh Bangla, a flagship scheme on February 16, 2016, under the aegis of the PBSSD.

The department organises video conferences with the district administration every month, to keep track of the training service providers in the district.

Basu said that he will soon organise a meeting with GTTI for coordination in a number of programmes, considering their expertise in comprehensive range of training programmes in various fields.

It may be mentioned that technical education has seen a major infrastructural boost under the Mamata Banerjee government, since it assumed office for the first time in 2011. "When we assumed office there were 80 ITIs. Now we have 252 ITIs, both government and private," a senior official of the department said.

The department is also constantly upgrading the course curriculum at the ITIs, keeping pace with market demand. Most of the machines that were lying defunct at workshops have been restored and some of them have been replaced with new ones as they were found to be beyond repair.

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