ADILABAD; Even as the spotlight has shifted to the proposed Young India Skill University, the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Adilabad, which was set up in 1992, lies in a deplorable state, neglected by the administration.
It’s not just the lack of faculty that the students complain of — it has no basic facilities to speak of.
Even a cursory look at the ITI building tells a story of total apathy, neglect and lack of funding from the government. Students sit on benches and it is they who pooled money, purchased fans and fixed them.
Though the students need additional classrooms and laboratories, there is no one to listen to their grievances. The machines and computers in the laboratories do not work properly, a student told TNIE.
The ITI offers six courses but there is no regular faculty. The courses — electrician and draughtsman civil — are of two year duration while welding, stenography, dressmaking and computer operating programme assistant are of one year duration. Electrician and welding courses were introduced in 2012 in PPP mode but there is no faculty.
Four faculty members had been posted to work as training officers by the Institute of Management, and of them, one left because of the delay in salaries. The remaining three officers have not been getting their salaries for the last six months.
Some students, on condition of anonymity, said that there are no usable washrooms for girls.
Only 36% sanctioned staff in 6 ITIs combined
This is particularly troublesome for girls who came from villages such as Talmadugu, Tamsi, Indravelli and Echoda. The institute neither provides mid-day meals nor pays stipend to the students. The academic year begins in August and will continue till July the following year. The ITI presently has 175 students. In erstwhile Adilabad, there are six ITIs — Mancherial, Mandamarry, Srirampur, Jannaram, Utnoor and the one in Adilabad.
All of them combined have only 36% of the sanctioned staff. It may be recalled that the state government has taken up upgradation of 65 ITIs in Telangana to Advance Technology Centres (ATCs) in collaboration with the Tata Technologies Ltd. The project is a joint venture between the state government and Tatas. The total budget is Rs 2,700 crore of which the state government will spend Rs 316 crore while the remainder will be borne by Tata Technologies Ltd (TTL). Each ATC will get Rs 40 crore.
They would offer six courses to make students future ready for jobs abroad. Recently, district collector Rajarshi Shah inspected the ITIs and instructed the R&B department to prepare the estimates for the building. Speaking to TNIE, ITI principal P Srinivas said that from this academic year, six new courses would be offered.