India’s ITIs Are Getting a Makeover: A New Chapter in Skilling Bharat

In a world where technology changes faster than textbooks, India’s Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) are undergoing a long-overdue transformation. Once seen as last-resort options for students, these skill hubs are now being turned into modern centers of excellence, ready to power the engines of New Bharat.

🚨 The Problem: Outdated and Undervalued

For decades, ITIs served an important but undervalued role—producing technicians, electricians, welders, and fitters. But the curriculum often lagged behind the times. In many cases, students trained on equipment no longer used in industry. With India eyeing leadership in fields like EV manufacturing, electronics, robotics, and renewable energy, it was clear: the skilling ecosystem needed a revolution.

🔨 The Turning Point: ₹60,000 Crore National Scheme

In May 2025, the Government of India announced the National Scheme for ITI Upgradation, backed by an investment of ₹60,000 crore over five years. This isn’t just a funding exercise—it’s a complete overhaul.

Key Goals:

• Upgrade 1,000 Government ITIs across the country.

• Create 5 National Centres of Excellence for high-end skilling.

• Skill 20 lakh youth in emerging sectors like robotics, solar energy, EVs, and advanced manufacturing.

• Train 50,000 instructors to improve the quality of teaching.

⚙️ What’s Changing on the Ground?

📚 Modern Curriculum

Out goes the outdated syllabus. In comes AI, IoT, 3D printing, drone technology, and mechatronics. Courses are being aligned with the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) to allow seamless transition to higher education or jobs.

🏭 Industry Collaboration

Companies like Tata, Mahindra, Bosch, and Adani are partnering to co-manage ITIs. This ensures what’s taught in the classroom mirrors what’s needed on the factory floor.

🖥️ Digital Classrooms & Smart Labs

Smart boards, VR tools, simulators, and CNC machines are replacing chalk and duster. Many ITIs are now connected to the Skill India Digital portal for blended learning.

🌐 International Alignment

India’s ITIs are being modelled on Germany’s famed dual education system. Students split time between classroom theory and real-world internships.

💼 Beyond Jobs: Creating Entrepreneurs

The new vision isn’t just about making job seekers. It’s about making job creators. With access to modern tools, business mentorship, and startup incubation, ITI graduates are now venturing into entrepreneurship—especially in green technologies and MSME sectors.

🏙️ Rebranding ITIs: From Stigma to Pride

For years, ITIs were stigmatized—considered less "prestigious" than engineering colleges. But today, ITI graduates are commanding respect, landing jobs in global companies, and even migrating abroad with certified skills.

When an ITI graduate works on a solar farm in Rajasthan, repairs drones in Assam, or programs CNC machines in Germany, we know something powerful is happening.

🧭 The Road Ahead

This revamp isn’t just about infrastructure or investment—it’s about trusting the power of skilled hands. It’s about recognizing that an economy cannot thrive on MBAs alone; it needs machinists, coders, welders, and solar technicians just as much.

With the ITI modernization drive, India is not just preparing its youth for jobs. It is preparing Bharat to lead the world in skilled manpower.

Nayara Sanctioned: Context and Implication for India’s Digital Sovereignty

The recent U.S. sanctions on Nayara Energy, one of India's private oil refiners, for trading with Russia highlight a critical reality: India’s dependence on foreign systems—economic, technological, and digital—makes it vulnerable to external geopolitical shocks.

Let’s break this down and explore the lesson for Bharat, especially in the realm of digital infrastructure, focusing on homegrown operating systems like Maya OS and BOSS OS.

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🔴 What Happened with Nayara?

• Nayara Energy, partly owned by Russia’s Rosneft and other investors, was sanctioned by the U.S. for allegedly helping in Russia’s energy export activities.
• Even though India hasn't joined the Western sanctions on Russia, secondary sanctions can indirectly cripple Indian companies using U.S.-controlled systems like SWIFT, Visa, Microsoft, or cloud services.

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🧠 The Lesson for Bharat

1. Digital Sovereignty Is Strategic Sovereignty

• Windows, Android, iOS, Google, AWS, etc., dominate Indian cyberspace.
• This gives foreign powers the ability to surveil, pressure, or disrupt Indian operations if they control the software backbone.
• Just as sanctions cut Nayara off financially, India could be digitally “cut off” if it doesn’t have an independent digital stack.

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🇮🇳 Enter Maya OS and BOSS OS: India's Defense Against Digital Sanctions

🛡️ Maya OS

• Developed by DRDO and Indian defence establishments.
• Based on Linux, hardened for military and critical infrastructure.
• Comes with Sandes (WhatsApp alternative) and Chakshu (anti-phishing tool).
• Designed to replace Windows in defense networks to ensure cybersecurity and control.

🧰 BOSS (Bharat Operating System Solutions)

• Developed by CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing).
• More civilian/enterprise focused.
• Based on Debian Linux, supports Indian languages, and can be used in government schools, offices, and research.

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🔍 Why They Matter Now More Than Ever

Concern	Without Maya/BOSS	With Maya/BOSS
Cybersecurity	Reliant on U.S. companies	Code owned & audited by India
Sanction Vulnerability	U.S. can deny access (MS, Apple)	India controls the stack
Data Sovereignty	Data flows through U.S. clouds	Data stays in Bharat
Defense Safety	Military uses Windows!	Hardened OS for military
Innovation	Dependent on Big Tech	Boost to Indian tech ecosystem

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🧭 The Way Forward

• Mandate Maya OS in critical infra: defense, power grid, ISRO, PSUs.
• Push BOSS OS in schools and govt offices—just like China dumped Windows.
• Build a native software ecosystem: office suite, browsers, AI tools.
• Invest in open-source hardware, not just software.

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⚠️ Final Thought

The Nayara sanction is a warning shot. Tomorrow, Google may revoke Play Store access, or Microsoft could suspend Indian servers, or NVIDIA might deny AI chips—all at the whim of foreign policy.

Bharat must not just be Atmanirbhar in slogans. It must be sovereign in code.

Bharat will have to upgrade her digital infrastructure to tackle not only official blackout created by the foreign tech giants, but also  to tackle the various threats from hackers worldwide. There's no scope for wilful blindness in the technology field. Here's my write-up on USA's Baltimore bridge collapse.

Read ON...

O my Bharatwasi... Read ON...

The journey of Ridit through Code...

🌱 From Blocks to Buffers: My Son’s Journey Through Code

Not all journeys begin with a map.
Some begin with curiosity, a spark in a child's eyes when something moves on the screen—not because he clicked a button, but because he made it happen.

That’s how it began for my son, Ridit.

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👶 From Drag-and-Drop to Lines of Logic

It all started with a simple platform: Code.org. A playground of visual blocks and puzzles that teach logic without words.

Then came Scratch—bright, colorful, and fun. He’d spend hours animating characters, setting conditions, building logic trees with a child’s imagination and a budding developer’s precision. I still remember the moment he showed me a working game he had made at the age when most kids were still figuring out which app to click.

That was the first sign: he didn’t just want to use software—he wanted to build it.

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🧠 The Leap to Real Code: Java, Python, and C++

As his mind outgrew the blocky charm of Scratch, we introduced him to Java—his first experience writing logic in words, not pictures. Java gave him structure. Then came Python, where he found beauty in simplicity. And finally, the mighty C++, where he learned memory, control, and the raw power of thinking like a machine.

From loops to classes, from functions to recursion—he tackled them all with an energy that came not from obligation, but from genuine fascination.

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🧩 The Architect’s Eye: UML & Design Patterns

But Ridit didn’t stop at syntax. He grew curious about how software is structured, not just written.

That’s when I introduced him to UML diagrams and design patterns—the architecture behind the application. To my surprise, he embraced them eagerly. MVC, Factory, Singleton—concepts even professionals sometimes struggle with—became tools in his thinking, not just terms in a book.

He wasn’t just coding now. He was designing.

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🎨 The Creative Leap: Blender and Beyond

Every engineer has a little artist hidden inside. In Ridit, that artist woke up through Blender.

He began building 3D models, animating them, understanding meshes and textures—not just how software behaves, but how it looks and feels.

Now, he was combining code and creativity, logic and beauty.

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🧱 Now: OpenGL and the World of Graphics

Today, Ridit is experimenting with OpenGL. Low-level graphics APIs that professionals use to render complex visualizations and simulations.

What once began as blocky instructions in Scratch has now evolved into buffer objects, shaders, and 3D transformations.

He’s not just a student of code anymore.
He’s a creator of systems, a designer of virtual worlds.

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👨‍👦 From a Father to Fellow Learners

As a computer science teacher myself, I have had the privilege of guiding hundreds of students—but watching my own son evolve, guiding him from his first block of logic to rendering real-time 3D, has been one of the greatest joys of my life.

More importantly, it has reaffirmed something I wish every parent and teacher would embrace:

Let curiosity lead. Let them play, explore, break things. Then show them how to build.

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🚀 Let’s Create Professionals, Not Just Consumers

In a world where screens are used mostly to consume content, let’s teach our children to create it.

Start with play.
Move to logic.
Then to structure.
Then to creation.

Not every child will become a software engineer. But every child deserves the power to build.

And sometimes, like in my case, they’ll end up building things you never imagined.

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🙌 To Parents, Teachers, and Mentors

If you're raising or teaching an inquisitive child:

• Start early. Use tools like Code.org, Scratch, Tynker.

• Expose them to real languages when ready—Python, Java, C++.

• Encourage structure: UML, design thinking.

• Let them explore creativity: Blender, Unity, web design.

• And when the time is right, show them OpenGL or low-level power—not as a challenge, but as a gift.

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My son, Ridit, is still learning. But so am I. And I hope we never stop.

Let’s raise creators.
Let’s raise thinkers.
Let’s raise the next generation of doers.

Here we go...

Ridit's latest exploration of OpenGL...

Here's Ridit's tech youtube channel especially made for OpenGL.

Please subscribe to encourage this inquisitive boy of Bharat.

https://youtube.com/@maker4174-p3e?si=oZ9qMRaNhzz0m3sv

And here's his old YouTube tech channel...

https://youtube.com/@riditmukhopadhyay4287?si=Vaoi0Sgxt4hCigAF

Engineers of Bharat - Wake up and embrace Sanskrit - part III - we knew the value of Pi centuries before the European - Kaṭapayādi system...

 The Kaṭapayādi system is an ancient Indian method of encoding numbers as syllables, allowing them to be embedded within meaningful words or verses—often for mnemonic or poetic purposes. This system was used extensively in Sanskrit and other Indian languages for transmitting mathematical and astronomical knowledge.

What is the Kaṭapayādi System?

In this system, consonants are assigned numerical values from 0 to 9. Vowels do not carry value but are used to form pronounceable words.

Basic Encoding Table:

Digit	Consonants (Examples)
1	ka, kha, ga, gha, ṅa
2	ca, cha, ja, jha, ña
3	ṭa, ṭha, ḍa, ḍha, ṇa
4	ta, tha, da, dha, na
5	pa, pha, ba, bha, ma
6	ya, ra, la, va
7	śa, ṣa, sa
8	ha
9	(varies by source)
0	ṁ, na (anusvāra or zero-consonants)

Note: There are multiple minor variations across regions.

Use in Encoding the Value of Pi (π)

The famous value of Pi up to 31 digits was encoded in a Sanskrit verse using the Kaṭapayādi system. The most well-known example comes from Madhava of Sangamagrama or later Kerala mathematicians.

The verse (in Malayalam tradition):

"गोपीभाग्यमधुव्रात-श्रुंगिशोदधिसंधिगः।
खलजीवितखाताव गलहाला रसंधरः॥"

Each syllable in the verse is decoded using the Kaṭapayādi system to yield digits of π.

Decoded Digits of π

Applying the Kaṭapayādi values to this verse yields:

3.1415926535897932384626433832792

This gives 31 digits of π — centuries before π was known to this precision in Europe.

Significance of the Kaṭapayādi-Pi Verse

1. Mnemonic Tool: Easily remembered and recited by students and scholars.

2. Intellectual Heritage: Shows the mathematical sophistication of ancient India.

3. Kerala School of Mathematics (14th–16th century): Used this in conjunction with infinite

Here's the simplified python code to calculate the value of pi using Kaṭapayādi system....

import re
from indic_transliteration import sanscript
from indic_transliteration.sanscript import transliterate

# Kaṭapayādi consonant → digit map (Kaṭādi system for Pi verse)
# This specific mapping is used for the Pi verse mnemonic.
# Note: Vowels are ignored in this system.
katapayadi_map = {
    1: ['k', 'ṭ', 'p', 'y'],  # क, ट, प, य
    2: ['kh', 'ṭh', 'ph', 'r'], # ख, ठ, फ, र
    3: ['g', 'ḍ', 'b', 'l'],  # ग, ड, ब, ल
    4: ['gh', 'ḍh', 'bh', 'v'], # घ, ढ, भ, व
    5: ['ṅ', 'ṇ', 'm', 'ś'],  # ङ, ण, म, श
    6: ['c', 't', 'ṣ'],       # च, त, ष
    7: ['ch', 'th', 's'],     # छ, थ, स
    8: ['j', 'd', 'h'],       # ज, द, ह
    9: ['jh', 'dh'],          # झ, ध
    0: ['ñ', 'n']             # ञ, न
}

# Reverse mapping: consonant to digit for quick lookup
consonant_to_digit = {}
for digit, consonants in katapayadi_map.items():
    for consonant in consonants:
        consonant_to_digit[consonant] = str(digit)

# Build regex pattern to match consonants (longest matches first to handle 'dh' before 'd')
# This ensures that 'dh' is matched as a single unit before 'd' is considered.
pattern = '|'.join(sorted(consonant_to_digit.keys(), key=len, reverse=True))

def decode_katapayadi(devanagari_text):
    """
    Decodes a Devanagari text using the Kaṭapayādi system.
    It transliterates the text to IAST and then extracts digits based on consonant mapping.
    """
    # Step 1: Transliterate Devanagari to IAST (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration)
    # Convert to lowercase to match the keys in our map.
    iast = transliterate(devanagari_text, sanscript.DEVANAGARI, sanscript.IAST).lower()
    print(f"IAST Transliteration: {iast}") # For debugging/verification

    # Step 2: Extract consonant roots using the pre-built regex pattern
    # re.findall finds all non-overlapping matches of the pattern in the string.
    matches = re.findall(pattern, iast)
    print(f"Extracted Consonant Matches: {matches}") # For debugging/verification

    # Step 3: Map extracted consonants to their corresponding digits
    digits = [consonant_to_digit[c] for c in matches]
    return ''.join(digits)

# ✅ Your input verse (the famous Pi mnemonic)
devanagari_verse = "गोपीभाग्यमधुव्रातश्रुंगिशोदधिसंधिगःखलजीवितखातावगलहालारसंधरः"

# Decode the verse
decoded_digits = decode_katapayadi(devanagari_verse)

# Format the output as an approximation of Pi
# For the Pi verse, the digits are traditionally read in reverse order from the verse,
# and often only the first consonant of each word is considered.
# This code extracts all mapped consonants in order.
# The actual Pi value (3.141592653589793238462643383279...)
# will be obtained if the specific rules for this mnemonic are applied (e.g., word segmentation and reversal).
# Here, we present the directly decoded sequence.
pi_approx = f"{decoded_digits[0]}.{decoded_digits[1:]}" if decoded_digits else "N/A"

# 🖨️ Output
print("\nDecoded Digits (using Kaṭādi map and all consonant extraction):", decoded_digits)
print("Approx Pi (based on direct decoding):", pi_approx)
print("\nNote: For the exact Pi sequence from this verse, traditional methods often involve splitting the verse into words and reversing the final digit sequence. This script applies the Kaṭādi map to all found consonants in order.")

And here's the result...

IAST Transliteration: gopībhāgyamadhuvrātaśruṃgiśodadhisaṃdhigaḥkhalajīvitakhātāvagalahālārasaṃdharaḥ

Extracted Consonant Matches: ['g', 'p', 'bh', 'g', 'y', 'm', 'dh', 'v', 'r', 't', 'ś', 'r', 'g', 'ś', 'd', 'dh', 's', 'dh', 'g', 'kh', 'l', 'j', 'v', 't', 'kh', 't', 'v', 'g', 'l', 'h', 'l', 'r', 's', 'dh', 'r']

Decoded Digits (using Kaṭādi map and all consonant extraction): 31431594265235897932384626433832792

Approx Pi (based on direct decoding): 3.1431594265235897932384626433832792

Note: For the exact Pi sequence from this verse, traditional methods often involve splitting the verse into words and reversing the final digit sequence. This script applies the Kaṭādi map to all found consonants in order.

Wake up... O my Hindus of Bharat... You are the progenies of a great civilisation...

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