A 4-year engineering degree course would be introduced at the Indian Institutes of Handloom Technology (IIHT), Bargarh, very soon, said Union Textile Minister Piyush Goyal in the Rajya Sabha recently.
Replying to a question of BJD member Prasanna Acharya, Goyal said, “The Government of India has taken a policy decision to introduce 4 years’ degree course in Handloom and Textile Technology in the IIHTs under its control including at Bargarh as per feasibility of introducing the degree course.”
The IITH, Bargarh, established in 2008, is offering 3 years’ diploma in Handloom and Textile Technology. The present intake capacity for the diploma course is 50 seats and the students in this batch are from three States, Odisha (22), Chhattisgarh (5), Telangana (9) and Maharashtra (14).
The institute campus has a three-storied administrative block, a two-storied workshop block, a multipurpose hall-cum-auditorium, two separate hostels for boys and girls with 60 and 15 rooms, respectively, a guesthouse and staff quarters.
Besides in Bargarh, the country has five other IIHTs at Varanasi (UP), Salem (Tamil Nadu), Guwahati (Assam), Jodhpur (Rajasthan) and Fulia-Santipur (West Bengal) under the Union Ministry of Textiles.
In addition, four IIHTs at Venkatagiri (Andhra Pradesh), Gadag-Betgeri (Karnataka), Champa (Chhattisgarh) and Kannur (Kerala) are run by the respective State Governments, Goyal said.
Around 340 students are awarded diplomas/post diplomas/degrees each year by the six Central Government-run IIHTs. Post qualification, students either wish to seek employment, be self-employed or pursue higher studies, he said.
The Minister further said that the placement offices in these institutes invite companies for campus placement for students. A significant number of students are recruited from the campuses. The placement offices continue to assist and guide the remaining students, if any, in finding gainful employment.