One million candidates to be covered by 2022
Orion Edutech, a partner company of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), plans to address skill shortage in the textile industry through a slew of upcoming initiatives. It intends executing its plan by working with the Ministry of Skill Development and NSDC in India. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), with NSDC to skill one million candidates by 2022. As per the agreement, NSDC provides financial support to Orion Edutech to fund its expansion plan to achieve its target.
Clearly this agenda is in sync with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s clarion call to develop India into a manufacturing hub through the ‘Make in India’ vision. Almost every vertical is orienting itself towards this vision. And the apparel-textile industry is no exception, as there’s a felt need in this sector. That’s because this industry is second to agriculture when it comes to employment.
“Currently, around 16 million people are employed in this sector, and this is expected to increase to 21.54 million by 2022, which means there is incremental requirement of 6.31 million candidates. But only 5% of the total workforce is skilled and employable in this sector,” said Mr. Dilip Chenoy, NSDC Managing Director & CEO.
Vision ahead
Orion Edutech is in the process of setting up scalable state-of-the-art apparel manufacturing and designing institutes across India. “Our target is to skill 50,000 candidates for the textile and apparel sector within 2022 and become a leading supplier of skilled manpower for this sector not only for India but also offer trained workforce to many other countries,” said Mr. Manish Agarwal and Mr. Sanjeev Kothari, Managing Directors, Orion Edutech, sharing their vision.
Already a move has been made in this direction. Orion Edutech which began as a student training and placement provider in Kolkata is preparing to start centers in all the major districts in India. The idea is to identify unemployed youth and make them skill-ready for the textile and apparel sector. This will happen through mobilization camps or Kaushal Melas to be conducted in the major districts of Assam, Tripura, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, Haryana, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. Apart from that, the panchayat unions are also being tapped. The youth will then undergo counselling and will be made aware of the career growth opportunities that this sector has to offer.
Skill shortage
In the apparel textile sector, the skill gap at the operators’ entry level is very visible. “These people have limited knowledge of machine handling and trouble-shooting aspects. They lack the ability to handle contingencies or undertake high-level due diligence required for quality checks. Experienced planners are few in number, and they usually lack people management skills,” reasoned Mr. Chenoy. With this, there’s also a certain amount of discomfort with regard to issues related to knowledge of customer standards and new global market trends.
NSDC has roped in KPMG as a consultant to evaluate the skill gap, region wise and sector wise. There’s a shortage of skilled workforce like operators, machine maintenance workers and weavers in areas like spinning, weaving and finishing of fabrics.
Coming to the technical and home textile segment, there’s a dire need for confection operators, marketing staff, specialized stitching operators, machine maintenance people, merchandisers, product developers, and compliance and quality control officers.
There is growing need for tailors, cutting machine operators and textile technologists in the garment and apparel sector. “Skill gaps are prominent at the entry level, and that includes operators, designers and merchandisers. The current training curriculum for the entry-level roles is more theoretical and doesn’t address practical issues sufficiently,” felt Mr. Chenoy.
For this reason, NSDC has come up with a suite of initiatives. For instance, it provides incentives to factory workers in the form of skills premium. Specialized industrial training institutes in textile machinery operations as well as home textile and technical textile design centers are being set up. A Sector Skill Council for the entire textiles and clothing sector has come up to accomplish many goals.
Training ground
Further, Orion Edutech will offer training for sewing machine operators, specialized machine operators, and in areas like finishing, packing, pattern making, fashion designing & embroidery, etc. Along with job orientation, soft skills and life skills will be part of the sessions. The duration of the courses ranges from two months to 12 months and the fees charged from Rs. 7,500 to Rs. 40,000.
“We will promote the courses through direct marketing techniques like mobilization camps and counseling camps. We intend to conduct seminars and job melas, apart from working closely with the local administration, employment exchanges, colleges and schools to mobilize the candidates,” said Mr. Agarwal and Mr. Kothari.
The courses are designed in collaboration with industry partners who provide placements to all the successful candidates after the course completion. Besides industry collaboration, the company is working with various Government-led bodies related to retail and apparel. These include the Ministry of Textiles, Labor Ministry, Ministry of Minority Affairs, NULM, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and NSDC.
The course is tailored to offer end-user benefits. “More than 70% of the candidates enrolled in this sector are female candidates who are able to support their families as well. Our courses not only help them get jobs but also encourages self employment or entrepreneurship,” they added.
In January last, Orion Edutech won the Best Vocational Training Provider (VTP) Award from Assocham. Incidentally, the company already has expertise in this sector as it has skilled more than 1.5 lakh candidates from its 200+ training centers spread across 19 States. These centres provide training for various sectors like Apparel, Hospitality, Beauty & Wellness, Retail, IT-ITes, and healthcare. This time, NSDC has stepped in as the funding arm for its upcoming plan.
Based on the progress made so far, expectations of India emerging a globally competent skilled manpower are quite high indeed.