Canara Bank institute hits IT off with meritorious poor

The Canara Bank Institute of Information Technology (CBIIT) has just completed 11 years of ‘meaningful existence' in the service of its beneficiaries.

And they happen to be meritorious youngsters from among the needy and poor for whom IT education with its attendant costs has remained a distant dream.

In the words of Ms Mary James, Director, CBIIT, information technology is a sector which offers enormous employment opportunities.

The institute was set up in year 2001 by the Canara Bank Centenary Rural Development (CBCRD) Trust.

The brief of the CBCRD Trust, itself established in 1981, was to drive the vision of founder late Ammembal Subba Rao Pai.

And this was all about improving the economic conditions of the weaker sections of the society.

Lofty mission

The CBIIT has come a long way pushing its lofty mission of taking IT within the reach of the poor youth, Ms James told Business Line here.

The institute today provides free, full-time courses in software applications and hardware to meritorious students.

It also trains them in Communicative English and behavioural aspects and assists trainees in setting up a meaningful and rewarding career for themselves.

“So far, we have trained about 2,300 candidates hailing from the poor/downtrodden sections of the society,” Ms James said.

Of them, as much as 95 per cent are now placed with various computer/IT companies.

About 350 trainees are now working in varying capacities with companies housed in the Technopark here.

“They earn anything between Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 a month,” Ms James said.

Canara Bank has always taken care to put up front the cause of banking and rural development in India for more than a century, she added.

The CBCRD trust today runs 31 self-employment training institutes in the country with a focused approach on rural development through self-employment.

vinson@thehindu.co.in