Minister of State for Education, Technical Education, Culture, Tourism, Horticulture, Floriculture and Parks Priya Sethi today took detailed overview of the new complex for Food Craft Institute (FCI) coming up at Dhami, Jagti, Nagrota.Director Tourism Sushma Chauhan accompanied the Minister during the visit.Inspecting the site, Priya Sethi stressed on the importance of development of infrastructure and amenities along the lines of an Institute of Hotel Management to provide the students with similar knowledge and opportunities. “We need to equip our students with highest quality of technical education and skill for increasing their employability so that they can get place in good organizations” she added.Priya Sethi asked the concerned department to expedite the pace of ongoing work so that the institute starts functioning in this new building. Keeping in view the distance of the new center from the city and the present institute hostel, the MOS asked the department to arrange transportation facility for the students.Priya Sethi directed the concerned officials to identify and resolve the issues at the non functional satellite centers at Bhadarwah and Rajouri and make it operational at the earliest possible time.
She also asked for interactive sessions to be organized regularly between the present students and alumni so that new students get motivated and can benefit from the experience of the seniors.The minister was informed that the institute building is expected to complete within a fortnights time and will be ready to host classes as early as this august. She was also informed that the department plans to construct a state of the art hostel complex for the students at Jagti in the near future.At present, the various centers of the FCI are conducting multiple 6 week and 8 week short term courses under ‘Hunar Se Rozgar Tak’ scheme, Six day orientation training programme and six month training programme under CBSP scheme teaching skills in subjects like food production, bakery and patisserie, food and beverage services, housekeeping.In the coming months, the institute is also including six months skill development programs for landscaper, Garden Worker and Tourist Facilitator.