Around two lakh students will be vying for a seat in their preferred stream in elite engineering colleges. But only a lucky few will make it to their branch of choice. There would be many others who will end up with something they don’t want and some who will dare to drop a year to take another shot at glory. A couple of students will settle for what they have got, even the unknown variables. That is how more than 90% of the students end up in a little-known branch of Textile Technology. Yes, it is a real field in engineering colleges and it doesn’t surprise me that most of you are unaware of it. I mean, in a sea of 3,345 engineering colleges, only 0.012% of colleges offer you the fountain of knowledge of textiles, and if you want to count the good ones, there are only a handful of them.

We live in a country that introduced the concept of ‘Roti, Kapda Aur Makaan’ as the necessities of life. Our textile industry is the oldest and the single largest industry accounting for more than 60 million jobs. We live in a country crazy for the latest fashion trends and using style as a measure of one’s impression and status. Unfortunately, but we live in a country that seems ignorant of the importance of the ‘Kapda.’

The world has come a long way in the field of textiles, but India is yet to catch up. The textile technology here remains an unknown entity. The industry still follows the decades-old blueprint for profits, the same old machines which are unable to compete against the advanced technology in the other parts of the world, and reluctant to introduce fresh talents.

The engineering colleges are thought to be the breeding grounds for the knights, who will take upon themselves to recreate the world of technology. But even the best ones are not prepared to provide the right direction to the rudderless students of this stream. Only a handful of them gets a job offer after completing a degree in textiles. The jobs that are up for grabs in this field pay little and make you work long hours. 

The role of teachers is also under scrutiny. While some teachers do whatever they can to give good exposure to students, they somehow feel that a student’s expectations are a big let down. 

The real potential of the textile industry is yet to be discovered. The current Government has made the development of textile industry its priority and a plethora of schemes have been launched in the last two years. These steps will surely go a long way in promoting the languishing industry’s growth and will help in luring students to opt for this stream.

This article is part of PaGaLGuY’s innovative internship certification programme
for engineering students. Currently, two such programmes are on – one is an Internship
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