Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday, July 12, inaugurated the 17th campus of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Panchkula, calling it a "fulcrum of development of the textile sector in the state”.
The CM said that 20 per cent of seats in this institute will be reserved for the residents of Haryana, in accordance with the policy of NIFT, as stated in a report by PTI. Smriti Irani, the then Union Textiles Minister, had laid the foundation stone of this campus on December 29, 2016, he said.
He also said that an amount of Rs 133.16 crore has been spent on the construction of the institute building which spreads over 10.45 acres of land and that has been built in collaboration with the textile ministry. Khattar said he had sought the Centre's help for some works in the second phase for this institute, including the building of the hostels and auditorium, in which he was helped by Goyal.
Goyal hoped that the landmark campus will help create a complete ecosystem of textiles in Haryana. "This will be the fulcrum of development of the entire textile sector," said the Union Minister for Textiles and Commerce and Industry while delivering his speech after inaugurating the NIFT building in Panchkula.
The minister asked NIFT to come up with initiatives to introduce hybrid courses to expand its reach. Three online hybrid courses — photography for e-commerce, social media marketing and digital designing for textiles —will be started in the new NIFT campus, he said.
"In Jhajjar, I am told woodcarving and pottery work is famous. Likewise in Bhiwani, handloom work is famous, and in Ambala and Patiala, 'phulkari' work is famous. If we can connect these industries with NIFT it will help them upgrade as well," Goyal said. Talking about collaborating with other institutes, he said that developing a co-curriculum with institutes like National Institute of Design and National Institute of Packaging can be explored as a part of "holistic training".
Goyal apparently was told that after Delhi, this is the second most sought after campus of NIFT in north India. He also lauded CM Khattar, saying that Haryana has made considerable progress across fields, under his able leadership. Comparing it with cities like Gurugram, Goyal said that Panchkula is also emerging as a township which will define Haryana's development. He said, "Like IIT is known for engineering, IIM for management, NIFT is known for fashion technology for the last 36 years.”
The institute will offer four-year degree courses in the areas of Fashion Design/Textile Design, Apparel Production and two-year master degree courses in Fashion Technology, Design and Fashion Management. Apart from this, there will also be certificate programmes of one year and six months duration, Khattar said. Additionally, this newly inaugurated NIFT campus would give a major boost to the textile, handloom and cottage industries in the state, he said.
PM Modi's vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat can be realised only through skilling of people, he said. That's why Haryana has connected education with skilling, he added.
