The new campus for the C E Kamath Institute for Artisans, sponsored by Canara Bank (Centenary Rural Development Trust), built at Miyar in Karkala will be inaugurated on August 18 at 11.15 am.

Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director M B N Rao will inaugurate the newly constructed building built at a cost of Rs 1.25 crore, while Central Administrative Reforms Commission Chairman M Veerappa Moily will be the guest of honour, informed Canara Bank Mangalore Circle Deputy General Manager M M Kudva.

Addressing media persons here on Thursday, he said the institute that was established in 1997 to mark the 90th-year-celebration of the Bank is being advanced and equipped with a new poised campus at Karkala, the place where the Bank originated, to mark its centenary.

Individuals between 18-25 years, having an education in between VII-X, can undergo artisan course in the institute for a duration of 18 months in three phases. A total of 175 students have already got trained in the school in 18 batches, he explained.

Over 150 students who have passed out of the institute are self-employed. Many of them have received national acclaim too.

Training is being imparted in the traditional ‘gurukula’ model with the active participation of experienced veteran sculptors, Mr Kudva said.

The students who complete their course in the institute will get the recognition of the Handicrafts Corporation of the Union government, he added. Bank Assistant General Manager B M Rai was present in the press meet.