Union Labour & Employment Minister Shri Mallikarjun Kharge has stressed for a need to harmonize skill development programme initiated under skill missions and the NCVT and a holistic approach which will be necessary to impart training according to national standards, quality assured to meet the specific needs of various sectors of economy. Shri Kharge was chairing the 40th meeting of the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) here in New Delhi today.

The Council was established in 1956 and since then it has been advising Government in framing the vocational training policies for expansion of National Vocational Training System and in maintaining high standards of training in the country. Over the years, it has emerged as a “brand” in itself.Shri Kharge said “Skills Development” is an essential input for achieving the objective of decent work both by increasing the productivity and sustainability of the enterprises and improving employability of persons. UPA government is giving due importance to build human resources through appropriate Skill Development, specially to take advantage of demographic profile of the country.He said, the Directorate General of Employment & Training (DGE&T) has taken many initiatives for expansion of Skill Development both in Qualitative and Quantities terms, during XI Plan period. With able guidance of members and support from all stake holders, we were able to achieve most of these targets. I am happy to inform you that ITIs are growing with an average rate of 10% every year during last five years. At present there are 9404 ITIs with seating capacity of around 13.21 lakh . In Government Sector, there are 2244 ITIs with seating capacity of 4.69 lakh and in Private Sector, total ITIs are 7160 with seating capacity of 8.62 lakh. I am told that the sub-committee of NCVT meets regularly to grant affiliating to these rapidly growing ITIs . I appreciate cooperation extended by all the members in this regard.

The minister said that Central Government, with the help of State Governments, has launched two major Schemes for upgradation of all the existing Government Industrial Training Institutes in the country. Under the first Scheme, 500 ITIs are being upgraded. Out of which 100 ITIs have been upgraded into Centres of Excellence through domestic funding at a cost of Rs 160 crore and other 400 ITIs are being upgraded under the Vocational Training Improvement Project assisted by World Bank at a cost of about Rs 1581 crore. The second Scheme is for upgradation of the remaining 1396 Government ITIs in PPP mode at a total cost of about Rs. 3550 crore . We have been able to associate Industry Partners in the process of upgradation of 1107 Govt ITIs, so far covered under the scheme. The Central Government has released around Rs.3713 crores to State Govts for upgrading ITIs under above said two Schemes so as to bring out qualitative changes in the ITIs. We have to ensure that funds released are utilized in best possible manner to upgrade the hard and soft infrastructure of these ITIs. A proper monitoring system must be in place at State as well as Central levels. Recently a survey was done by Quality Council of India and it was revealed that ITIs which have been upgraded are performing better and placement rate has reached a level of 81 to 99 % in these it is, the minister added. As the National Policy on Skill Development has set a target for training of 500 million persons by year 2022 and the target for Ministry of Labour and Employment is 100 million. Therefore, a lot more work has to be done by Ministry to achieve the target. However, a holistic approach to skill development is necessary so that training imparted is according to national standards, quality assured and can meet the specific needs of various sectors of economy. Many States have now constituted State Skill Development Missions. DGE&T is initiating following new schemes to facilitate an accelerated and sustainable transformation and for expansion of outreach of the skill development and vocational training to difficult areas such as Skill Development in 34 districts affected by left Wing Extremism , to create skill development infrastructure closer to people living in these areas, Enhancing Skill Development Infrastructure in North Eastern States and Sikkim, Kaushal Vikas Yojana – under which 1500 ITIs and 5000 SDCs in PPP mode are proposed to be set up in the country and finally, Expansion of Trainers Training infrastructure through Establishment of 15 ATIs and 12 RVTIs. While effort to increase seating capacity will continue, focus must be given to qualitative improvement and training of instructors in large numbers. During last meeting, a decision was taken that Instructor Training Institutes may be set up by State/UT Governments as well as private sector. In order to maintain quality and standards of instructor training in all such institutes, it was also decided that such institutes should be affiliated to NCVT so that the trainees after completion of training are trade tested and successful trainees could be awarded Craft Instructor Certificates under the aegis of NCVT. A complete manual for setting of “Institute for Training of Trainers” has been prepared and up loaded on DGET web site for end-users.

The Minister said we want to improve our affiliation system in such a manner that training providers do not face any difficulty and at the same time, it should be fast, transparent and user friendly. Therefore, during 39th Meeting we have suggested an agenda for involvement of Quality Council in Affiliation of ITIs. As desired by members, the matter has been discussed in two meetings of Su-committee of NCVT and now concrete proposal is placed before the council to take a decision on the issue. He said it is necessary to improve affiliation, assessment and testing system of NCVT. It is also necessary to start accreditation of ITIs, so that performance is and recognised. I am very happy to note that many other important issues have been taken up in the agenda for discussion and I hope that this council will deliberate constructively in detail on all agenda points and take decisions which will lead to the qualitative improvement and further strengthen the Vocational Training system in the country.On this occasion Shri Kharge also presented two awards in the areas of Skill Development in the Craftmenship . The award for the best institution went to M/s BOSCH while the award for best state was given to Maharashtra.The meeting later discussed the following issues: Engagement of Quality Council of India (QCI) for Accreditation of Government and Private Industrial Training Institutes (S), Granting Affiliation from NCVT to Government and Private ITI(S) for Limited Period of Time,. Approval of Dual System of Training Scheme in Government and Private ITI(S), To Implement Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation Scheme, Introduction of Computer Based Instruction Material (CBIM) to IMPART Theoretical Instructions; and Web Bases Testing System (WBTS) for Evaluation of Trainers, INT Roduction of Diploma Level Training Courses by NCVT, Grouping of Existing CTS Trades, Qualification of the Instructor for the Subject ‘Employability Skills’, Setting up of a Computer Lab as an Infrastructure Resource at all the Industrial Training Institutes Affiliated to NCVT, Delegation of Approval and Declaration of Results of the DGE&T Field Examinations, to their Respective HOD(S), A Draft Model on “Article of Memorandum of Association” for Registering the State Council of Vocational Training (SCVT) as Society, Blue Print of ‘Format for Website’, Introduction ofRevised Format for ‘Annexure III’