SIGA Polytechnic College

History of the College / Institution

Humble Beginnings

In 1947, in the small town of Tirupattur in Vellore District, the Salesians of Don Bosco started a workshop with carpentry, mechanics, welding & metal works and a small printing press. In 1950 all these machines, except the printing press, were shifted to Basin Bridge in Chennai, to start a new Technical School with the name St. Joseph’s Technical Institute. Two Years later, in 1952, the printing press too was brought to Basin Bridge to start a School of Printing. At this stage it must also be mentioned that this was only one among a chain of academic and technical ventures that our pioneers like Msgr. Matthias, Archbishop of Madras, and Fr. Jose Carreno, Provincial of the Salesians in South India, had envisioned, half a century ago, as the Salesian answer to the problems of poverty and unemployment among the Youth of the country.

The New Printing School in Basin Bridge started in a humble little shed with just two students; the strength gradually increased to 20 by the end of the year. In those days, printing was no considered an attractive career. Students were not willing to join; they had to be coaxed and, at times, counseled elaborately to take printing. In 1954, the newly acquired machines were installed and a regular course in Printing Technology was designed, with systematic syllabus in theory and practical.

A decade later, in the year 1965, students passing out of SIGA were in high demand. Leading newspaper publishers on India like, The Hindu, The Indian Express, the Madras Mail and other Printers and Press owners started recruiting SIGA boys, as more and more students started seeking admission, there was greater pressure on the management to provide better facilities.
By the late sixties, lack of space and the inconveniences experienced by the students, the entire Printing Department was shifted from Basin Bridge to its present location on Taylors Road in October 1968,

In 1970, SIGA entered the offset age. A brand new offset machine was brought from Italy to teach students the art of offset printing. Next 40 years, the students learned on various sizes and models of offset machines. About 15 printing units were used for the on the job training. As on date 3000+ students have been trained and placed in various printing organizations in India and abroad, in particular UAE, Canada, USA, African counties and Australia. As a recent addition, SIGA Print House was equipped with 2 four colour Heidelberg SM Offset machines and one eight colour Heidelberg machine to train students on the state-of-the-art technology in 2015.