The quality of any material is decided by the user and if the manufacturer uses superlative words to describe his product without any proof, normally intelligent buyer will hesitate to bite the bait! This is a universal truth and it does not require any special training to see through such glib promotional efforts. One is reminded of the above maxim when recently GOI babus in the food industry ministry boasted about a "world class" institute being set up by them for training food technologists and entrepreneurs. According to its claim the new institute, fancifully called NIFTEM, is all set to "admit" students from the year 2011. It is difficult to comprehend the mind of a bureaucrat when such announcements are made as a matter of routine without realizing the ground realities concerning setting up of an academic institution, that too for producing technocrats and entrepreneurs. Here is the gist of the announcement which was splashed across some of the major news papers recently.
"To attract bright young minds towards research in food processing and technology, and also to hone their entrepreneurship and managerial skills, the ministry of food processing industries (MOFPI) is all set to come up with a world-class institute in the country that will start admissions from 2011. It will be established in Sonepat, Haryana. "The institute, known as National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM), will be the first of its kind in the country to be offering a number of programmes that will support innovative research activities at under-graduate, post-graduate and PhD level," said joint secretary, MOFPI, Ajit Kumar while talking to TOI on Monday. The admissions would be done through a national-level entrance test and would be open for students of science stream with physics, chemistry, maths or biology combination at intermediate (10+2) level. "We are also trying to reserve some seats for students who opt for food technology and qualify in the All- India Pre-Medical Test ( AIPMT) and All-India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) conducted by CBSE," he added".
Probably because of the association with an American University for establishing the institute, the ministry seems to be cock sure about the success of the venture. It has taken decades for some of the reputed food technology training institutes in India to establish even the minimum facilities required for turning out graduates acceptable to the food industry and even here there are complaints that these graduates do not measure up to the expectations of the user industry. Two of the courses run by the food research institute at Mysore, evolved during nineteen sixties and later in nineteen eighties are internationally recognized because of the fabulous facilities created for hands-on training and involvement of hundreds of specialist scientists available on hand from the research departments of the organization. The post graduate food technology program and the milling technology diploma offered by this organization have proven to be world class, unlike the unproven claims made by the GOI ministry! There are hundreds of graduates and diplomates from other countries who will vouchsafe for the credentials of these courses at Mysore. It is unfortunate that precious resources are being wasted creating a duplicate organization with high pitched "paper" claims!
V.H.POTTYhttp://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com
