Student's Review On National Institute Of Fashion Technology - [NIFT] Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar

Design has always been the source of inspiration for me and I wanted to pursue my passion as my profession. And when you talk about fashion and textiles- NIFT is the pioneering institute to provide fashion education in India. It not only provides theoretical knowledge but also offers practical learning. Over the years, NIFT has produced leading designers in the industry who have been shaping the future of fashion business both nationally and internationally, to name a few- Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Manish Arora, Prabal Gurung, Rohit Bal and the list goes on!

NIFT offers a strong course curriculum which grooms every student for the industry and builds them into forefront professionals to shoulder the demands of the fashion business. The course curriculum for each department is same across all the 16 centers. Thus, NIFT Bhubaneswar is no exception. It has one of the most talented and experienced faculties. However, it is considered that the Department of Textile Design is the strongest department of the campus having the best of faculties, exposure and services.

In NIFT, internship is the part of the course curriculum, this is for the students to get exposure of the industry but having said that, NIFT does not play any role to allot companies to the students for the internship program. It is the students who contact the companies directly for internship and fetch it for themselves. There are two mandate internship program undertaken by the students according to the curriculum. First, Summer Internship- 8 weeks internship program, opted after the completion of the 6th Semester. Second is the Graduation Project- it is undertaken by all the final year students in their 8th Semester for a duration of sixteen weeks. During which, students work on projects allotted by the company and also develop their own design collections. I did my Summer Internship at Arvind Limited, Bangalore and Graduation Project at UTM/JSML, Bangalore. However, I didn't get stipend during the 8 weeks summer internship program but I got a stipend of Rs. 12,000 during the later.

NIFT has a common placement schedule for all the 16 campuses at the selected venues of NIFT where companies register for campus placements offering job vacancies. There was a time when NIFT had 100% placement record but it is facing significant drop in campus placements in recent years. In 2019 the placement record fell drastically to 37%. This is perhaps due to the increasing no. of campuses and competition. But a huge no. of students get placed through off campus drives as well. Well, I am speaking from my personal experience, there is nothing to get disheartened if anyone fails to crack a job during the placements. In our batch (2015-19), only 3 students from our department were placed during the placements. But today, all my batch-mates are successfully placed and are working with the leading brands in India.

NIFT Bhubaneswar has a lively and vibrant campus with a creative architecture. NIFT offers a wide range of activities through the Student Development Activity Clubs (SDAC). Apart from various events which takes place throughout the year, NIFT celebrates its two-day annual fest-'SPECTRUM' every year where the students showcase their talent through various events. NIFT also organises an inter-NIFT Sports and Cultural National Meet-'CONVERGE' where the best candidates from all the 16 campuses compete with each other. NIFT Bhubaneswar is also the first institute in India to take measure for sustainable fashion and it has also created 2.5 acre plantation on its campus as a natural dye garden.

Spread over 10 acres of land, NIFT Bhubaneswar is one of the best campuses in respect of infrastructure and services. The campus is well equipped with modern design technologies and offers an excellent exposure by providing the freedom to experiment, explore and generate creative ideas.The education structure emphasizes both on theoretical knowledge and practical learning, thus the campus is equipped by one of the finest design studios, resource centers, lecture rooms and laboratories, being upgraded with newest technologies in regular intervals.

NIFT Bhubaneswar offers hostel facility only for the girls. The best part of the hostel is that it is situated within the campus. The hostel is pretty clean and spacious and it is well maintained by the warden. However, I didn't like the food quality but I think adapting it was the only choice I was left with!