Faced with a severe crunch of quality manpower in the software sector, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) is now tying up with Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) to train students from engineering colleges to make them ready for industry.

“As a pilot project, we have tied up with IIT-Madras to provide three-four months training to students of five engineering colleges in the South. The programme will take off in the next six-eight months,” Nasscom President Kiran Karnik said.

He said depending on its success, the apex software body would go in for tie-ups with other IITs to roll out the programme across the country. In addition, Nasscom was also in talks with the government and the industry to start training courses with the help of 20-odd Regional Engineering Colleges (RECs) that will not only upgrade the skill sets, but also inculcate soft skills that are an essential feature for the business process outsourcing and IT-enabled services sector.

“We are looking at churning out 40,000-50,000 additional quality engineers within the next two-three years. Currently, only 25 per cent of software engineers are of real good quality. We are looking to increase it to at least 35 per cent,” Karnik said on the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony of Pune-based construction firm Vascon’s first IT Park in Nashik.

The Nasscom president said if Tier-III and Tier-IV towns had to become IT destinations, it was imperative for the government and the local administration to ensure quality infrastructure and necessary amenities to improve the standard of living.

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