Scholarships for ITI students in TN go abegging

 A “token amount” that masquerades as monthly financial assistance for a whole range of trainees from economically weaker sections of society to pursue diploma courses in Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in Tamil Nadu has resulted into an anomaly as such scholarships are going abegging.

In 62 government-run ITIs across the state, which offer 39 diploma courses in engineering-related skills and 17 courses in non-engineering sectors, scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST) and de-notified communities, besides children of Tamil repatriates from Burma, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are under the present rule entitled to receive a monthly pittance of Rs 150, Rs 140 and Rs 175 each, respectively. Apart from this, the state government gives a measly amount of Rs 100 to those students whose parents’ annual income is Rs 50,000.

The financial aids to these category of students in ITIs have been “so insufficient” and low that they went unnoticed and unutilised. This also resulted in students from these categories to stop pursuing their diploma courses thus forcing them to take up odd jobs due to their financial circumstances.  

To make the scholarships a little more attractive so that they do not go unnoticed and unused, Chief Minister J Jayalalitha, irrespective of their caste or community, raised the monthly financial aid to Rs 500 per person; the annual income limit norm has also been waived from the academic year 2012-13.

This move will encourage more youths from these economically disadvantaged sections of the society to pursue ITI diploma courses, enlarge the pool of skilled manpower which is very much required for the country, and help in their economic betterment, an official release said. The chief minister has directed an extra budgetary allocation of Rs 12.94 crore for the new scheme.