Tamil Nadu

NIT-T to offer welders training course

TIRUCHI: The National Institute of Technology-Tiruchi (NIT-T) will offer its welders training course to another batch of the Women Entrepreneurs’ Association of Tamil Nadu (WEAT).

At the valedictory of the five-day course, offered to 44 women in two batches, on Monday, NIT-T Director M. Chidambaram said the third batch would be trained at the earliest, in deference to a request made by WEAT. The training was offered at the welding laboratory of the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering(MME), under the aegis of Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) Community Services.

Dr. Chidambaram distributed certificates of appreciation to participants in the presence of Ramachandran, General Manager-Production, G.B. Engineering Enterprises Pvt. Ltd; N. Manimekalai, Director, Centre for Women’s Studies, Bharathidasan University; Rani Muralidharan, WEAT president, and T. Srinivasa Rao, Professor and Head, Department of MME.

To the participants, on the threshold of starting their own welding units, the training turned out to be immensely beneficial.

Commending the cooperation extended by the staff of the department, they expressed happiness over the confidence they gained to oversee works by virtue of the course.

The course was handled by convener V. Muthupandi, coordinators S.P. Kumaresh Babu and S. Jerome and trainer Mohan.

Realising the potential for women entrepreneurship in the fabrication sector in the wake of heavy attrition of men workforce, the WEAT had facilitated its members, oriented towards starting 22 fabrication units, to fulfil formalities of signing partnership deeds and SSI registration in order to undertake job works for BHEL. In the meantime, the association prevailed upon the G.B. Engineering Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., to enhance the expertise of the trainees.

During the course of on-the-job training, the trainees would also be familiarised with blueprint reading, ways of identifying defects in welding and the sequence of carrying out complicated welding in shortest time, Mr. Ramachandran said in his valedictory address.

He offered to send supervisors from G.B. Engineering Enterprises to their place of work to provide them technical assistance.

Ms. Rani said women by virtue of their patience and ability for concentration, were better suited for entrepreneurship and their active participation in economic activities was imperative for the country’s development.

Dr. Manimekalai said though the participants had to go through further learning processes before undertake welding work with finesse, the right momentum had been created through their vigorous training at the institute.

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