CREST project in limbo over funds
So far CREST has imparted training to more than 1,000 candidates in 29 batches apart from to faculty of elite educational institutions.
KOZHIKODE: The new campus project of the multi-storied building complex of CREST (Centre for Research and Education for Social Transformation), was delayed for the last few years due to delay in releasing funds. Started in 2002 under the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode (IIMK) to impart training to graduates from backward sections across the nation, CREST has been empowering youngsters from the marginalized sections, assisting them to bag respectable jobs, improve living conditions and pursuing goals with confidence.
CREST director Dr DD Nambootiri told Deccan Chronicle that the building plan prepared by an international architecture firm was soon to be cleared by INKEL. “Though the fund was allotted earlier, it was only recently that INKEL was assigned to act as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the project”, he said. “I hope the funds would be released and construction would start soon”, he added.
Coming up on 1 acre land near the Government Cyber Park, the Rs 17 crore project is now being executed by Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) under INKEL’s monitoring. Now functioning in the KIRTADS campus at Chevarambalam, CREST has been imparting training to students and professionals of NITs, IITs and from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
So far CREST has imparted training to more than 1,000 candidates in 29 batches apart from to faculty of elite educational institutions. “Once the new building complex is completed we would be able to cater to as many as 500 students in a batch including 200 residential candidates,” Mr Namboodiri said. Rechristened in 2008 as CREST, the institution was an active presence in the arena of training. Called ‘Centre of Excellence’ earlier, it was an extended training arm of the IIMK.
University of Latrobe, Melbourne, Australia and Robert Gordon, University of Aberdeen, Scotland are some of the institutions where alumni of the institution pursue further studies. Hero Honda, Wipro, Indian Space Research Organisation, Idea Cellular, Cognizant Technologies, Deutsche bank, Ford India, Infosys are some of the companies where alumni of CREST have been placed.