DEVELOPMENT Of Texile Sector & Improving Condition Of Wavers & Artisans Remain Priority For Central Govt: Smirti Irani

A meeting of stakeholders on Samarth – Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector under the Skill India Mission- was held in New Delhi on Wednesday to familiarize the stakeholders about the scheme and its guidelines. The meeting was chaired by Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani. The broad objective of the new scheme is to skill the youth for gainful and sustainable employment in the textile sector covering the entire value chain of textiles, excluding spinning and weaving. Minister of State for Textiles, Ajay Tamta and Secretary, Textiles, Anant Kumar Singh also addressed the stakeholders. The concerns of the stakeholders and challenges faced by them during implementation of the previous scheme were discussed in the meeting. Feedback from the concerned stakeholders on how the scheme can contribute and benefit the textile industry and boost skill development in the respective sector was also discussed. The scheme, approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 20th of December last year, is intended to provide demand driven, placement oriented National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) compliant skilling programmes to incentivize and supplement the efforts of the industry in creating jobs in the textiles sectors. The scheme targets to train 10 lakh persons (9 lakh in organised and 1 lakh in traditional sector) over a period of 3 years (2017-20), with an outlay of Rs. 1300 crore. The guidelines of the scheme were released on 23rd of April 2018.Earlier at another meet, The Ministry for Textiles highlighted the crucial role of State Governments in identification of weavers and artisans and their active participation in implementation of the Government of India schemes.  A detailed presentation on schemes of Government of India for development of Handloom and Handicraft sectors was made by the concerned Development Commissioners. The Minister appealed to State Ministers and representatives to play a pivotal role in decision making for the growth of the textiles sector. Underlining the need for all-round development of weavers and artisans, the Minister requested officials at the Centre and the States to ensure that the benefits of all Government of India schemes, like Ujjwala Yojana, Swachhata Abhiyan, reach the beneficiaries along with Textiles Ministry initiatives. She said that India Handloom Brand launched by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi   has become a bridge between weavers, manufacturers and consumers, ensuring increased earnings for weavers and quality products for consumers. The Minister urged all concerned to encourage stakeholders to register their products with India Handloom Brand. She also requested State Ministers to set targets and regularly review activities at Handloom and Handicraft clusters. She emphasized the need for educating weavers and artisans and their families by encouraging them to enrol with NIOS and IGNOU through initiatives taken by the Ministry of Textiles. State Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand were present at the meeting along with senior officials of the Ministry of Textiles and Development Commissioners for Handloom and Handicrafts.