STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: To strengthen industry-academia partnership and to bring qualitative improvements in Technical Education, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, on Monday e-inaugurated Centre for Invention, Innovation, Incubation and Training (CIIIT) established at a cost of Rs 181.57 crore at Government Polytechnic College, Baramulla.
Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, RR Bhatnagar, Chief Secretary, BVR Subrahmanyam; Principal Secretary to the Government, Skill Development Department, Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon were present on the occasion, while Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, Dr GN Itoo, Director Skill Development Department, Sajad Hussain, Principal CIIIT, Baramulla, Manzoor Ahmad, Vice President Tata Technologies, Sushil Kumar, besides large number of students participated in the e-inauguration through video conferencing.
The Lieutenant Governor congratulated the team and said that establishing of CIIIT in Baramulla will be a milestone in the history of J&K. He said that the move is aimed at providing world level skill training to the students of Engineering Colleges, Polytechnic Colleges and ITIs besides, the unemployed Engineering Degree/Diploma holders and Engineering Graduates who are employed but in need for career enhancement through up-gradation of latest technological skills.
The Lt Governor said that in the face of fast-changing global economy, the youth of Jammu & Kashmir need relevant training, reskilling and up-scaling of their existing skills-set. Only with training in recent technological trends can our youth be equipped to secure jobs in this world, he added.
He said this Centre for Invention, Innovation, Incubation and Training will not only focus on innovative design, entrepreneurship development but will also enhance the employability rate amongst the youth, while strengthening Industry-Academic partnership. He further said that this Centre and another upcoming Centre at Jammu will also provide modern engineering tools required for product design, development and manufacturing.
The Lieutenant Governor said the CIIIT Baramulla is offering 9 competency centres starting from Innovation, Incubation, Product Life-cycle Management Centre to digital manufacturing centre and these are vital areas to produce design engineers, product engineers who will get ample opportunity in Automotive Industry, Aerospace Industry, Manufacturing Industry, Electronics, Oil and Gas and Heavy Industry Sectors.
While sharing his views with the students who participated in the event through video conferencing, the Lieutenant Governor said, Last week during the IIT World Summit 2020, I had highlighted the challenges to be faced by the post-Covid world. He said new opportunities will emerge along with these challenges. In such a scenario, we would need to reorient our energies and talents to not just stay relevant, but become a dominant force in the world, he added. He said B Tech and M Tech pass outs would be given three-month training in industrial robotics and with the training, they would be ready to be employed in automotive and manufacturing industry.
He further said that during the lockdown period, young minds from many ITIs of the country had worked on innovative designs to help our front line workers. He said ITI Cuttack had created a service robot and hands-free sample collection robot. Another institute from Mumbai had designed a pedal based hands-free sanitising system which was later installed in government offices and police stations. I’m sure youth from Baramulla would also come up with similar ideas very soon, he added.
The Lieutenant Governor also said that as all of us are aware that Banks, post offices and many other service organizations have made significant progress on digitising their operations and effective penetration of digital technology is ready to offer new opportunities for our talent pool. This digital revolution needs to be leveraged to deliver new inventions and innovative products for the post-Covid market, he further added.
He observed that the Information Technology enabled Services is another area which can be tapped by our youngsters with the help of these centres (CIIITs). He also mentioned Electric vehicle industry as another sunrise industry where the demand is likely to be of very high order and proper environment will ensure talents from Jammu Kashmir contribute towards growth of this sector. He further said that India is already emerging as a global hub for sourcing of auto components and 4-5 Certificates proposed to be offered by the CIIIT Baramulla will be of great help to youngsters interested in this industry.
Lt Governor Sinha also said that we are soon going to have a historic Industrial policy and a large number of big businesses are showing interest in setting up manufacturing plants in Jammu Kashmir. With modern skill centres like CIIITs, we will be able to provide required skilled manpower. He further said that Skill Development is an important enabler for capacity building and by developing proficient technocrats catering to the needs of industry, we can strengthen India’s position in major emerging market economies.
Earlier, Principal Secretary, Skill Development Department, Dr Samoon gave first hand appraisal about the project to the Lieutenant Governor through a PowerPoint presentation. He said this project is an industry-led consortium as a joint venture between the Government of J&K and Tata Technologies to facilitate innovation and skill development of students, industry professionals for skill development and creating entrepreneurship.
On the occasion, the Lieutenant Governor was informed that at present 178 students have enrolled in the Centre in different professional/skill development courses. However, annual intake capacity in CIIIT Baramulla would be increased upto 1400 to provide benefit to maximum aspirants.
