ITIs take up maintenance work of equipment, vehicles of Urban Local Bodies

Bhubaneswar: The departments of Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) and Skill Development and Technical Education, Govt. of Odisha have come together for strengthening the Wealth Centres in the ULBs functioning under the decentralised solid waste management under 5T initiative.

Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) were signed on Thursday between the Directorate of Municipal Administration and Directorate of Technical Education and Training (DTET) and between the 114 ULBs and 33 ITIs for repair and maintenance of equipment of Wealth Centres and sanitation vehicles.

Minister for H&UD, Pratap Jena said that Odisha has made rapid strides in solid waste management in which the Wealth Centres are playing a key role. The Wealth Centres (WCs)comprising of Micro Composting Centres (MCCs) and Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) being successfully operated by Mission Shakti groups have been playing a critical role in collection, segregation, transportation, treatment, and reuse of wet and dry waste across all the 114 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

“However, we need to regularly and periodically maintain the equipment and build the technical capacity of the human resource engaged at the WCs,” he said.

“The signing of MoU will result into a ULB level partnership where ITIs will undertake repair and maintenance of equipment and vehicles at the Wealth Centres and also in building the skill and capacities of students and trainers in the ITIs,” he added.

Minister of State, Skill Development and Technical Education, Shri Premananda Nayak said 33 ITIs will partner with 114 ULBs for service and maintenance of equipment and vehicles in the Wealth Centers. “We are also in the process of opening Mechanic Motor Vehicle trade in other ITIs and also in some of the upcoming new 24 ITIs, through which this partnership will get further strengthened. The income that would be generated through this partnership will help the ITIs, their trainers and students financially,” he said.

G. Mathi Vathanan, principal secretary, H&UD said that ULBs have been facing the problem in periodical as well as breakdown repair and maintenance of Wealth Centre equipment due to poor after sale service from manufacturers/suppliers due to which the need for skilled local technicians and support system was felt.