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Sankar Radhakrishnan

The KINFRA International Apparel Park at Thumba, on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram, is offering a tailor-made plan to better the lot of women and boost the local economy.

It's a little past 4.30 on a sunny Thursday evening. The environs of the KINFRA International Apparel Park at Thumba, on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram, are swathed in a silence broken only by the sound of the occasional vehicle passing by. The languor is almost infectious. But just take the trouble to enter one of the three apparel-manufacturing units of the Mumbai-based Leela group, situated in the park, and the atmosphere changes dramatically.

In one unit, employees are busy giving finishing touches to a consignment of ladies' shirts, bound for a large retail chain in the US. In another unit, a group is busy with a batch of men's shirts, again bound for the US.

There seems to be nothing out of the ordinary about this — `just another garment manufacturing unit,' would be the natural, but mistaken, reaction. Mistaken, because the KINFRA (Kerala State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation) apparel park and the Leela group's facility within the park are spearheading an initiative that is slowly transforming the economic status of the locality and bringing hope to its surrounding communities.

ISRO and more

Long viewed as a `backward' area, Thumba, some 12-odd km from Thiruvananthapuram's city-centre, is, perhaps, best known for the Indian Space Research Organisation's rocket launching station. The little villages that dot this stretch of Kerala's coastline are predominantly fishing communities, with fishing being the sole occupation and, possibly, the only source of income. For the women of these villages, employment avenues were, until now, almost non-existent. But the decision to locate the KINFRA apparel park in Thumba has changed that. In the wake of initial apprehensions about the project's success in a `sensitive' locality, the park's authorities met the local people and leaders, and explained how the apparel park would aid the development of the area and provide employment to the local people.

"We were a little concerned about the locality's reputation for turbulence when we started work on the apparel park," says G.C. Gopala Pillai, Managing Director, KINFRA. In time, the `community-contact' measures helped create a more positive attitude towards the park, he says. Attitudes towards the park really started changing when the Leela group commenced operations in October last year. The company's three units in the apparel park currently employ a little over 650 young women, with at least 70 per cent of them hailing from the surrounding villages. And with another facility likely to be set up in the apparel park shortly, the number is bound to go up. "We will employ close to 850 young women when the first phase of the project here is completed. And when the second facility comes up, we will be able to employ around 1,500 people," says Venu Krishnan, Executive Director, Leela Venture.

Talent spotting

As they have no prior experience in the apparel industry, the young women are recruited using the `finger-dexterity test' that checks eye and finger coordination. Those who qualify are put through an initial seven-day training period at the end of which they work on trial shirts. In time, most move on to various departments, while a few who display a special aptitude for highly-skilled operations such as cutting, are trained in these areas.

For people with no apparel background, the girls are doing quite well. "We are quite happy with their performance," says Krishnan. Many are now showing interest in learning more about the business, say their supervisors.

"I like the job," says Lolitha, who works in the `finishing department' and is from a nearby fishing village. She held no job before coming to the apparel park. The Rs 1,000 she earns during the training period constitutes a significant chunk of the family income. "Our families were very keen that we take up a job here as it offers a regular income and is also close to our homes," say Philomina and Sulaja. How do they feel about having such a facility in their locality? "We are very lucky to have a factory here as it provides jobs to people from the area," says Lolitha while her friends nod in agreement.

`Multiplier effect' seen

KINFRA's Pillai too believes that the apparel park and the Leela group's factory have had a beneficial impact on the locality. "The surrounding communities have undergone a sea change once this unit started operations," he says. Krishnan feels that the employment of young women from the surrounding villages will have a `multiplier effect' on the local community.

For one, families that till recently depended solely on the vagaries of fishing, can now look forward to regular incomes, especially during the monsoon. Something that has helped improve the quality of life of many families in the area, say KINFRA officials.

At the same time, thelocal people have been able to find employment in the apparel park as labourers and gardeners. Besides, young women from other areas have done their bit to boost the local economy, says N. Sasidharan Nair, Managing Director of the KINFRA Apparel Park, by renting houses in the area. Shops that sell items of everyday consumption have also come up in the area.

Exact estimates of the increase in incomes in the locality and the overall economic impact of the apparel park are still hard to come by. However, with more companies in the process of setting up units in the apparel park, the picture appears to be getting brighter for the surrounding villages. "We will definitely look at sourcing workers from the locality around the apparel park during the next phase of expansion," says Krishnan.

"The apparel park and the companies that operate there have proved that successful industrial activity is possible even in so called `backward' areas," declares a KINFRA official. For an industry-starved State such as Kerala, this is good news indeed.

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