ATDC to train over 1,50,000 aspirants in next three years

ATDC’s ‘Hunar ki Hunkar’ was inaugurated by chairman AEPC,

Virender Uppal, in the presence of Hari Kapoor, Vice-Chairman, ATDC, Ashok Logani, Chairman DISHA Sub-Committee, Lalit Gulati, Lalit Thukral, and DG Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC), Darlie Koshy yesterday.

ATDC’s journey during the pilot project and the activities and initiatives being taken up to achieve the massive target of training 2,50,000 candidates in five years is being showcased through ‘Hunar ki Hunkar’, a two day exhibition-cum-display event at Apparel House, Gurgaon. The event also featured ‘Hunar Se Rozgar’ initiative with over 22 exporters being present and nearly 1,000 youth seeking employment.

In his inaugural address, Virender Uppal, Chairman AEPC, ATDC & IAM said, “ATDC’s ‘Hunar ki Hunkar’ is a key platform created for the youth of India which needs to get vocational training to become productive, and to acquire skills from employers, training providers, corporates, NGOs and other stakeholders.”

He said an estimated nine million people are expected to be added to the apparel industry (both exports & domestic) from 2013 to 2022. Out of which, at least seven to eight million would be the addition to shop-floors given the growth in both export and domestic industries. The rest would be in different tiers of manufacturing as merchandisers, designers, managers etc. With the high attrition rates (12-18 percent) in production floors, trained workforce is required to substitute, also for expanding capacities.

Uppal further informed that, the apparel industry has moved on a growth curve logging in 16 percent growth. The Ministry of Textiles has approved ATDC’s proposal for financial support to train 1,50,000 candidates (cumulatively 2,50,000 till the end of 12th Plan). This step is expected to give further push to the apparel manufacturing industry.

ATDC has emerged as the largest training provider in the apparel sector with about 190 centres in 22 states and 85 cities, having trained over 1,00,000 people in less than three years under the Integrated Skill Development Scheme (ISDS), MOT, GOI through SMART (Skills for Manufacturing of Apparel through Research &Training) centres and over 12,000 candidates under long-term programs through ATDC Vocational Institutes.

Hunar ki Hunkar captured and showcased various facets of the massive skill-development mission including mobilization efforts, training of trainers (TOT), ‘Hunar se Rozgar’, skill competitions (Hunarbaaz), Hunkar ka Safar, among many others. ‘Tech Talk Sessions’ to address key issues on innovations in technology, enhancing productivity and addressing skill gaps in the apparel industry, were also organized during the event.