By: Dr. M. M. Tripathi
National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT) is an autonomous Scientific Society of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY). Government of India is engaged in Training, Education, Skill Development, and Capacity Building activities in Information, Electronics & Communications Technology (IECT). NIELIT has endeavored to establish standards to be the country’s premier institution for Examination and Certification in the field of IECT. It is also one of the National Examination Body, which accredits institutes/organizations for conducting courses in IT in the non-formal sector through its benchmark and internationally recognized qualifications viz‘O’ Level, ‘A’ Level, ‘B’ Level, ‘C’ Level. NIELIT also has IT essential programmes for the proliferation of Digital competence in the country, besides specialized programmes targeted towards empowering the government employees and as per specific needs of public and private sector firms. Over a period to maintain the standard of courses, NIELIT has aligned its 94 Qualifications with National Skills Qualification Framework ranging from Level-2 to Level-8. NIELIT (erstwhile DOEACC) was a pioneer in creating fertile land for IT growth in the country. In the last ten years, more than 80 Lakh candidates have been certified through NIELIT in its various courses, which speaks volumes about how it has impacted society at large and helped shape India like Digital India.
PAN INDIA Presence
In the last ten years, NIELIT has been striving to expand its reach to every nook & corner of the country by establishing its centers in the most challenging region of the country, which includes Kargil, Leh, Majuli, Pasighat, Tezu, Chuchuyimlang, etc. to reach the unreached citizens of our country to provide skills to the youth to make them employable. At present, NIELIT has its direct presence at 47 locations, out of which 22 are located in North Eastern Region. NIELIT has land holding around 200 Acres and around 5 lakh sq Feet constructed area. Some NIELIT Centres have had direct linkages with 05 state Universities & offering M.Tech for the last 20 years.
Apart from this, NIELIT provisioned to outreach students through its 850+ Accredited Training Partners and 5400+ Facilitation Centres. Diversification of activities and tapping technological potentials in emerging areas for promotion of Skill Development have also been addressed.For “Reaching the Unreached,” NIELIT has leveraged its capacities through its various online services – Virtual Training Academy (nva.nielit.gov.in), e-Content Portal (econtent.nielit.gov.in), NIELIT AAA at UMANG, KaushalSetu App for complete student life cycle, Online Registration (student.nielit.gov.in) for registration, Online Accreditation (accr.nielit.gov.in) for Accreditation of Institutes.
Empowering Nation through Skilling
NIELIT, a Virtual training academy, caters the Course Development, Virtualization for providing hands-on training, Development of Live Web Acquisition Tools, Web development for providing VTE, Development of Helpdesk for LEA etc. One can get an education from anywhere, anytime at his own pace, through this academy.
NIELIT is implementing the “Free Training to SC/ST candidate” scheme of MeitY and, in the last ten years, trained more than 2 Lakh SC/ST youth at the Pan India level. Under this scheme,, all the SC/ST Category candidates get free training at NIELIT Centres. Apart from this, NIELIT is implementing a number of Skill Development/Capacity Building Projects of MeitY wherein candidates from SC/ST/EWS/ Sr. Citizen/ PWD are being trained on a free of cost basis. NIELIT is also a key stakeholder in conducting Training of Retired Army Personnel under the ambit of the Directorate General of Resettlement.
NIELIT’s CCC (Course on Computer Concept) is a benchmark qualification to ensure the Digital Competency of Government employees and is recognized and mandated by various state governments viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Gujarat, Haryana, Mizoram, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand for the purpose of recruitment, promotion, and increment.
Serving Nation through Innovation Support
NIELIT is further augmented by the wide range of activities, including projects, and has demonstrated its capability and capacity to undertake R&D projects, consultancy services, turnkey projects in office automation, software development, website development etc. NIELIT is also the nodal implementing agency on behalf of MeitY for Data Digitization of the 62 Crore population of 15 assigned States and 2 Union Territories for the creation of the National Population Register (NPR) project of the Registrar General of India (RGI). NIELIT is a key partner along with NASSCOM in the Training of Emerging Technology in Future Skill Prime project of the Ministry of Electronics & IT.
NIELIT is implementing Capacity Building in IECT, including training in Digital Skillsets and Current Industry Demanding Technologies for various sections of society in the NE States, wherein 1.665 Lakh candidates are targeted for Training &Capacity Building in 2 years. For digitalization of the Handloom sector to enhance the earning capacity of artisans, NIELIT has done the “Digital Intervention of Handloom and Handicraft Sector for Livelihood enhancement of artisans of the North Eastern States and Leh with funding support from MeitY.
NIELIT has also successfully executed the Agriculture Census and Input Survey project under which tabulation of about 10 crore data records has been done. NIELIT has planned a roadmap for adopting appropriate pedagogy for metamorphosing NIELIT into an Institute of National Importance.
Future Plan
Based on its vast and diverse experience in Training, Capacity Building, Skill Development, its presence across the nations, and the diverse capacities available, NIELIT endeavors to utilize its the strength to metamorphose into India’s first Digital University. It will be based on a Hub and Spoke model where its Centres will work as spoke and NIELIT Headquarters as the Hub so that it may benefit a broader segment of stakeholders and support the vision of Government of India in making India 1 Trillion Digital Economy country in next five years.
The writer is Director General, NIELIT
