India, Oct. 12 -- If one asks any parent in a small Indian town about the Industrial Training Institute (ITI), one would certainly notice how their voice and face changes apologetically, instantly. For years the ITI has been the place families settled for when the engineering seat or the medical rank did not come through. Children pick up on that. They grow up believing that working with your hands is a lesser ambition than working with a degree.

This thought process is gradually changing and is being challenged. In October 2025 the Prime Minister launched PM SETU, a Rs 60,000-crore scheme to upgrade 1,000 government it is of which 200 of them will act as hubs and the rest 800 as smaller spokes. The idea is simple and straightforward. If...