Kolkata, June 27 (IANS) The West Bengal government has decided to adopt a modernisation-through-privatisation model for 51 Industrial Training Institute (ITI) colleges in the state that are currently under government control, Higher and Technical Education Minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay announced on Saturday.

Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) here on Saturday, Chattopadhyay, a journalist-turned-politician, said that 51 state-run ITI colleges would now be handed over to private commercial organisations so that the infrastructure at these educational institutions could be improved through substantial capital investment.

According to him, the aim of the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal since Independence is to improve the standards of technical education in the state and modernise ITI colleges by ensuring the flow of capital from the private sector.

“Like other states in the country, West Bengal will also work hand in hand with various large industrial groups. In West Bengal, these ITI colleges will be run in a joint venture with top corporate houses of the country,” Chattopadhyay said.

Earlier, while addressing the seminar, he appealed to corporate houses and chambers of commerce to come forward in the state government’s endeavour to modernise the technical education sector through private investment.

“The government will fulfil its responsibilities completely. However, we will request chambers of commerce, business associations and industrialists to come forward and invest more and more in this state. Together, we will create a healthy business environment and investment ecosystem in this state,” Chattopadhyay said.

To recall, after being allotted the portfolio of Higher and Technical Education Minister earlier this month, Chattopadhyay said that his prime agenda would be to clean up the education system in the state of what he described as multi-pronged corruption that became rampant during the previous Trinamool Congress regime, as well as to take the state’s higher education system to new heights by implementing the National Education Policy.

At the same time, he said that enforcing “punctuality in attendance” in higher education institutions in the state would also be among his priorities as Higher Education Minister.

–IANS

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