Technical courses most suited to modern needs
It is often said that if you want to judge the standard of an educational institution go and talk to a few of its alumni. Perhaps nowhere is this statement truer than in the case of SSM Polytechnic College.
Located in Komarapalayam, Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu, this college’s alumni can be found in virtually every leading textile company and whose expertise would vouch for the high standards set by this institution, which has been a pioneer when it comes to offering specialized courses in the textile domain.
The Textile Magazine caught up with Mr. P.E. Purushothaman, Correspondent, Mr. P.E. Eshwar, Vice-Chairman and Mr. G.K. Balamurugan, Principal of the college at the institution premises for a detailed interview. The trio spoke about various aspects of working, including the history of the college, the core philosophies driving forward the institution, what makes the institution different stand out from the crowd, SSM Processing Mill and community development initiatives of the group, among others.
Edited excerpts:
The interaction began with Mr. Purushothaman who offered a brief insight into the history of the college. He recalled how the SSM family had been into the textile business from the early 1940s, basically into trading, initially setting up an office in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, and later on in Singapore. “After tasting success in trading, the top management wanted to venture into manufacturing. That is how the popular ‘Veena’ brand of dhoties, which was a hit around South India, happened in the 1960s,” he said.
“There was then a period during which consolidation of different family businesses, basically involving the five brothers happened. Each of them began to concentrate on different businesses. It was during this time that the family began to think on the lines of giving back something to the community, having been in the textile field for about 40-odd years. This is when the idea of starting an educational institution germinated,” he added.
Started by the five brothers heading the SSM Group, the SSM Polytechnic College was established under the control of a trust – S.S. Marichetttiar Trust, Komarapalayam – in 1980. The trust had been involved with education in the sense that it had been sponsoring the entire cost of higher studies of the top ranker in S.S.L.C. from the Komarapalayam High School. The trust had also constructed the government hospital building in Komarapalayam and donated it to the town’s municipal authority. It had also constructed and donated an auditorium in the Komarapalayam High School premises.
Referring to the focus area of the founding members of the college, Mr. Purushothaman observed: “While there were already several institutions offering textile education, not many were offering courses specializing in different areas such as spinning, weaving, designing, garmenting, etc. So, our founding-members decided to take on a different path.” Initially the college was offering two Diploma programs, namely, Textile Technology and the course on Textile Design & Weaving. Gradually the number of courses increased, and today it offers six textile courses and four non-textile core engineering courses.
The courses offered by the college are Diploma in Textile Technology, Diploma in Textile Processing, Diploma in Textile Technology (Textile Design & Weaving), Diploma in Textile Technology ( Man Made Fibre), Diploma in Textile Marketing & Management, Diploma in Garment Technology, Diploma in Mechanical Engineering, Diploma in Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Diploma in Electronics & Communication Engineering and Diploma in Computer Engineering.
The Government-aided polytechnic college, approved by the All India Council for Technical Education, and affiliated to the Directorate of Technical Education, Tamil Nadu is spread over a sprawling 20 acres and has approximately 1,200 students on the roll.
One of the strong points of the institution is its focus on infrastructure. The college has a complete laboratory set-up for every department.
Elaborating further on the topic, Mr. Purushothaman stated: “If you take spinning, we have the entire range of machinery, as it is supposed to be in a modern day spinning set up here. Right from the blow room to the final ring frame, including a yarn testing laboratory, is available here. We have all automatic testing machines in our college. Similarly, we have all the latest machinery available whether it is weaving, processing or garmenting.”
Adding further, Mr. Balamurugan said: “We have the lab model of all the latest machinery, all in working condition, and what is more, we are able to get production out of them too.”
Making students industry-ready
Throwing light on the key reason behind the thrust on offering the latest machinery and laboratory set-up to its students, Mr. Eshwar said: “Right from day one it has been our endeavor to be different. We are basically offering diploma training programs which will enable the students to become shop floor technicians. When the student goes for working into an actual industrial environment, he or she should not be alarmed at seeing all the latest machines. They should not feel apprehensive operating them. So, we are making sure that the industrial environment is not an alien concept to them. Right from day one of their entry into an industry, they are industry-ready professionals.”
Continuing further on the kind of initiatives the management is making towards ensuring that the students are thoroughly ready before they are employed, Mr. Purushothaman pointed out how their alumni is coming forward and helping them out by providing the latest software packages being used in the textile industry.
Speaking about these packages, Mr. Purushothaman said: “We have an exclusive weaving CAD lab where we have the latest software available. These software packages have been developed by our own alumni working in the industry. This ensures that our students have hands-on experience in working on the latest software packages being used in the industry.”
The college also has signed a memorandum of understanding with several leading corporate entities, many of whom train students on the latest software packages. “Remember all these additional training that we are providing are not part of the syllabus, but is part of our efforts to make the student a thorough industry – ready professional,” pointed out Mr. Purushothaman.
Industry experienced faculty
Another strong point of SSM Polytechnic College is the fact that its entire staff has at least 5-10 years of hard core industry experience in various fields such as spinning, garmenting, weaving, etc. According to Mr. Eshwar these industry – trained teaching faculty ensure that apart from getting to know about the latest machinery, they are also taught to handle the various day to day challenges that they could potentially face in an industry environment.
Mr. Balamurugan while speaking on the subject said: “Our staff is also allowed to go in for technology enrichment and refresher courses from time to time. We are directly trained by industry professionals during such training programs. If necessary we are also allowed to travel overseas too for such training programs or for higher education.”
Mr. Eshwar remarked: “Since they also have continuing relations with the textile industry, our faculty are also well informed about the latest updates in technology, vital information, which they regularly pass onto our students, keeping them up to date with the latest trends.”
Mr. Eshwar also said that the Syllabus Committee of the technical education authority in Tamil Nadu is always chaired by a HOD from SSM Polytechnic College.
According to Mr. Purushothaman, through the syllabus committee they try to bring in the maximum amount of innovation. “However, it is also not always possible to bring in all kinds of equipment. We therefore see to it that we strike the right balance. We see what the student is going to learn in the next 3 years. The syllabus is revised every 2 years. We at SSM never try to stick only to the syllabus. It has been and will be always our endeavor to go beyond that.”
SSM Processing Mill
The group’s other ventures include SSM Processing Mill. Going into details of the working of the processing mill, Mr. Purushothaman mentioned: “The unit was established in 1969 for catering to the needs of both the domestic and export textile markets. The division offers various services like fabric singeing, bleaching, dyeing, printing, finishing, inspection, testing, export packing, in-house container stuffing, etc. Our installed capacity is around one lakh meters per day. We are in tie-up with Birla Cellulose for LIVA. In fact, we were one of the first processing units from South India to be accredited to the LIVA program.”
Referring to the future expansion plans, with respect to the manufacturing division, Mr. Eshwar said: “We are planning to set up small weaving unit as part of our backward integration programme. So far as the forward integration process goes, we want to go in for a garmenting set-up. We already have enough infrastructure available for the same.”
The group also runs an Indian Oil petrol pump, apart from having interests in agriculture.
College vision
Asked about his vision for SSM Polytechnic College five years down the line, Mr. Purushothaman stated: “In another 5 years time, say by 2022 we want our students to be on par or better equipped than other engineering graduates. Any engineering graduate may be a little better equipped in areas such as report preparation. However, we want our students to be well versed with both technical and practical knowledge. We feel that we have achieved around 25% of our objective. Achieving the rest would be a difficult task. However, we are confident we will be there.”
Touching on the other steps being taken by the management to further sharpen the employability skills of the students, Mr. Eshwar said: “We are already making efforts to sharpen the student’s communication skills in English, both written and oral. We make them read newspapers every day and understand things. Similarly, we also have a full-time Hindi Pundit who teaches students the nuances of the language.”
On the kind of value added training programs offered by the institution, Mr. Balamurugan said: “We also offer short-term vocational courses under the Canada India Institutional Cooperation Project (CIICP) as part-time programs covering subjects such as yarn processing, garment making, handicrafts, export management and computer courses.”
Adding further on the part-time programs, Mr. Purushothaman explained: “It is like this. A student who is studying spinning has to attend a one hour part-time program in weaving in the evening. Similarly, someone studying processing has to attend a program in garmenting or spinning. We even have a course in electrical wiring. Remember, all these courses are compulsory. At SSM Polytechnic, by the end of the three years, a student has 4 different certificates, all of which enhance his employability prospects manifold.”
Extension centers
The college also offers community development training programs under the aegis of the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD). Elaborating on these training initiatives, Mr. Purushothaman explained: “We have set up 7 extension centers under this scheme at different villages. We offer training programs for those who have had no formal education. We offer them courses in areas such as tailoring, beautician and electrical wiring. At the end of the program we offer them certificates sponsored by MHRD. Once they complete the course, we also offer them placement help, thanks to the large number of our alumni who are already working in reputed companies.”
The extension centers of the college have proved a huge hit in the area, in these sense that they have emerged as a virtual manpower supply mechanism for the big mills and players in the area. “We have had cases where leading players in the industry have set up vendor offices in locations near our extension centers, so that they could get uninterrupted supply of skilled manpower, a precious commodity these days,” said Mr. Eshwar.
Going into details of the kind of project consultancy services that the college has been able to offer, Mr. Purushothaman said: “In several instances, we have had top companies from the textile industry directly coming and offering machines to a group of 5-10 women entrepreneurs, who just need to bring in consumables such as fabric and sewing thread to the extension centre. We offer them the training absolutely free of cost. Later on they can begin production, at their own convenience. It is some sort of a ‘work from home’ concept you see, because all that they need to do is to take the fabric, go to their home, sew the cloth, bring it back and collect their payment.”
Rounding off the interaction with the objective behind this CSR initiative, Mr. Purushothaman said: “While disseminating knowledge is our key objective, what we also want to ensure is that at the end of the day, the person’s standard of life should go up to the next level.”
By Ganesh Kalidas & M.K. Prabhakar