In the year 2007, under the public-private Partnership (PPP) scheme, the Central government had launched a program to upgrade 1,396 ITI’s across the country. The reports from the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training (DVET) suggest that Maharashtra government did not utilize the fund granted by central for betterment of the said institutions. It was then acknowledged that the State Steering Committee (SSC) will be freezing the fund.
The report of the DVET stated that of the Rs 625 crore issued by the central government on the interest -free loan, only 67.26 crores was actually spent. Institute Management Committees (IMC) in collaboration with industries were launched with estimation of 2.5 crore for each. Each IMC has Institute Development Plan (IDP) which decides the amount to be spent. The ITIs have to payback the interest-free loan after 10 years.
DVET officials quoted, “Between 2007 and 2014, the ITIs, using PPP funds, increased their capacity by starting 378 new units, benefiting around 6,000 students. However, a number of planned new courses couldn't take off as the state refused to create teaching positions for these courses. Subsequently, around 20% IMCs have now become defunct”. The official also tells that in spite of many feasible schemes the administrative hurdles do not let the scheme to be implemented properly.
The various reasons for the SSC to freeze the funds include ITIs not spending the money as per their Institute Development Plans (IDPs), ITIs not being able to utilize the scheme due to some intimidation in recruiting teachers for new courses and the lack of full-time principals in many of the institutes.