Hyderabad: With no infra, ITI in Old City fails to provide skills to trainees

Hyderabad: In the absence of proper patronage from the government, the Industrial Training Institute, famously known as Government ITI Old City at Bahadurpura, is facing acute shortage of faculty, besides proper infrastructure and instruments to train young minds, thereby failing to serve its very purpose.

It is the only facility providing industrial training to students of both Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts. It has12 traders with a primary purpose to equip students with industrial skills, thereby allowing them to get employment in the field they wish to join professionally.

However, it is said that of the 12 trades, only a few are operational with half number of trainees against the available seats.

"Though the institution has a capacity of 456 seats, only 221 trainees are getting training in trades. As against the requirement of 36 faculty members, the institute has only 19 instructors, including Assistant Training Officers, Deputy Training Officers and Training Officers," informed an officer on the condition of anonymity.

"Most trades are found defunct or non-operational due to lack of proper infrastructure and raw material for practical sessions that lead to cessations of classes," he said, adding that, "in draftsman civil section, where 20 trainees are enrolled, nothing is visible except furniture. Similarly, the mechanical refrigeration and air-condition section, though has required material, but no utilisation."

Pathetic is the situation of mechanist, turner, mechanical motor vehicle, plumber and welder sections which are either turned into dump yards or are defunct. Not much different is the situation of fitter, diesel mechanic and electronic mechanic sections where machines are either obsolete or not in proper use. What is left behind is the mechanical radio and TV section which has no batches.

"The sewing technology section, primarily set up to train young women, is enough to explain how far the institute has turned into a defunct body. Though the section with advanced machines has a seating capacity of 40 trainees, it is said that no student is turning up to get trained" the official explained. Cherry on the top is the unhygienic condition that greets visitors with garbage dumping yard at the entrance of the coveted institute, where people of surrounding areas discard trash every day.