The Tiruppur Exporters’ Association will train 16,000 workers under the Samarth (Scheme For Capacity Building in Textile Sector) programme in the garment units in Tiruppur in two years.

Raja Shanmugham, president of the association, said almost 100 garmenting units in Tiruppur are expected to benefit from the scheme. The government pays ₹14,000 to a candidate during the 45-day training period. The training is on select activities such as quality checking and sewing. Each batch will have maximum 30 workers and the workers receive the stipend directly from the government.

The association got approval from the Union Ministry of Textiles last August to implement the scheme. Initially, 75 units had applied. However, following relaxation of lockdown restrictions that were imposed to control the spread of the pandemic last year, inflow of workers to the garment units reduced and the number of workers who were employed at the units dropped. Further, many of the 75 units that had evinced interest in the scheme initially were unable to recruit new workers as business had slowed down.

Hence, the association appealed to the government to relax the norms of the scheme and permit more units to be added.

The government has permitted more units to be covered under the scheme and the interested units, catering to domestic or export markets, are approaching the association. “About 95 candidates were trained and received the certificates on Tuesday,” he said. With demand reviving and more workers finding employment in Tiruppur, the association is confident of training the targeted number of workers in a year.

Published On : 25-08-2021

Source : The Hindu