When govt encroached upon state's ITI dream

Though the Punjab government is claiming to open more industrial training institutes (ITIs) to run job-oriented courses for youth, the ones already established seem to be in a shambles. The 16 state ITIs have fallen prey to encroachments by none other than the state government departments.

Though the Punjab government is claiming to open more industrial training institutes (ITIs) to run job-oriented courses for youth, the ones already established seem to be in a shambles.

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The 16 state ITIs have fallen prey to encroachments by none other than the state government departments.

Through an RTI application filed with the director of the technical education and industrial department, Hindustan Times has come to know that several government departments, including police, public health, administration, higher education, home guard and the centre for training and employment of Punjab youth (C-PYTE), have encroached upon the ITIs. The encroachments can be spot on hostel rooms, ground and even residences of many ITI principals.

The government has failed to get the areas free of the illegal possession, which has continued for the past 15-20 years.

Seeking anonymity, one of the senior functionaries of the technical education department said they had written to senior officials several times in the past and the officials had also conducted meetings with the chief secretary and the chief minister, but to no avail. He said the encroachments hampered renovation and upgrade of the ITIs.
He said that at some places, as per the rules and regulations, principals were supposed to be present on the campus 24X7, but the encroachments forced them to live outside on a rented accommodation.
He said presence of policemen on the campus of a few ITIs, including that in Moga and Nawanshahr, affected the study environment of the institute and students usually complained about the behaviour of policemen.
B Purushartha, director of the technical education and industrial training, was unavailable for comment.