The government will pay Rs.10,000 each to poor students for training in private Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in rural areas and Rs.12,000 each to students in urban ITIs for improving the skill base in the State.
Making a suo motu statement in the Assembly, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said that the government was providing training to 21,000 students in 62 government-run ITIs, but was not in a position to train all eligible students.
There were 627 private ITIs in the State, in which 60,320 students were being trained. The rural ITIs charged Rs.20,000 to Rs.25,000 and the urban institutions, Rs.25,000 to Rs.30,000. As the poor students could not afford the fee, 50 per cent of the seats in private ITIs remained vacant.
The State's Vision 2023 envisaged the creation of a trained workforce of two crore in the next 11 years and the government had decided to hold district-wise counselling for poor, eligible students to fill the 50 per cent seats lying vacant in private ITIs, Ms. Jayalalithaa said.
“The students will not be charged. The government will pay the fee to the private ITIs,” the Chief Minister said.
“In the first year, 18,000 students will benefit and in subsequent years 30,000 students will be trained each year. The government will spend Rs.14.85 crore this fiscal. In 2013-14. It will spend Rs.26.40 crore and Rs.33 crore annually from 2014-15,” she said.
Apart from providing better employment opportunities in the private sector to the youth, the scheme will increase productivity in the manufacturing sector, contributing to the growth of the economy, Ms. Jayalalithaa said.
