Textiles Ministry partners with 16 states for skilling 4 lakh under ‘Samarth’ scheme

Sixteen states have signed pacts with the Ministry of Textiles to partner with it for skilling about four lakh workers as part of the 'Samarth’ scheme on Wednesday.

Jammu & Kashmir and Odisha, which were among the eighteen states that had earlier agreed to be on board, did not participate.

Once the agencies that are nominated by the states provide training to the workers, they would be provided jobs in the textiles industry, an official release of the Ministry stated.

"It has been the endeavour of the Prime Minister that for a new India we ensure that each and every citizen who seeks resources for sustenance is skilled and it is this endeavour in the sector of textiles that Samarth took shape," Textiles Minister Smriti Irani said at the event where the participating states signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the Centre.

With the exception of spinning and weaving, beneficiaries will be provided training in the entire value chain such as apparel and garments, knitwear, metal handicraft, handloom, textiles, handicraft and carpet.

The sixteen states that signed the MoUs include Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Karnataka,Manipur, Haryana, Meghalaya, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand.

Irani urged states like Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand to re-consider their skilling targets as she said that the goals seemed much lower that the demand for skilled workers in the textiles industry there. In Tamil Nadu, certain clusters such as Tirupur need more attention, she said.

The North Eastern States, too, need to review their targets for skilling and should develop the silk and jute sector, Irani pointed out.

The Minister added that she would be visiting the training facilities in different States to monitor the implementation of the programme.

About three-fourths of workers in the textiles sector are women and 70 per cent of the beneficiaries of the Mudra loan are women.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval for the ‘Samarth’ Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector (SCBTS) from 2017-18 to 2019-20 to meet the skill requirements of textiles industry. The scheme aims at skill development of 10 lakh youth up to 2020 with a projected outlay of Rs 1300 crore.