ATDC Smart Summer issue

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Between The Covers

Chief Patron: Dr. A. Sakthivel, Chairman, AEPC, ATDC & IAM

Honorary ManagingEditor: Sh. Hari Kapoor, Vice-Chairman, ATDC

Chief Editor: Dr. Darlie O. Koshy,DG & CEO, ATDC & IAM

Editor: Ms. Aanchal Prabhakar Jagga

Content and Design:IANS Publishing

The Centre’s Skill Mission is fast becoming a national movement as itfigures on the agenda of public figures across the political and corporate spectrum. And ATDC hasplayed a role in ushering in this change

As the Uttar Pradesh government aims tospur apparel expansion in the state,ATDC captures the mood and beginsskilling rural youth, women and people atthe fringes for a better future

flashlight12

in summary20

l Remarcabil! Romania eyes ATDC for skilling

l From Rajasthan, with love!

lPlanning Commission hails ATDC’s efforts

l ATDC powering garment industry

l When denim came alive

news flags14-19

l In-factory SMART Training Cell in TN

ATDC has transformed the ‘Skill Mission’ into a movement, says Dr. Darlie O. Koshy, DG & CEO, ATDC & IAM

l ERP-Pragati goes live

l New campus for ATDC-Raipur

l Skill expansion in West Bengal

l East or West, ATDC stays the SMARTEST

l Odisha gets on to ATDC skill train

l Training and mobilisation at ATDC-Indore

l Placements/SMART Rozgar Initiatives

l SMART Innovations

l Enhancing digital designing skills

l ATDC-JUKI organise workshop on Attachment Making

SMART NewZine is a bi-monthly publication of ATDC. All rights reserved. Contents from SMART NewZine may be reproduced with permission of the editor.

Feedback/ suggestion/ articles/ advertisements may be sent to: [email protected]

Cover Design:Mithun Mukherjee

CONTRIBUTORS:ATDC FIELD AND STATE-LEVEL TEAMS

FROM MISSION TO MOVEMENT

in focus04

Seizing UP’s demographic dividend

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On a hot June morning, sitting inside her second-floor office in the Planning Commissionbuilding in the capital, Dr. Renu S. Parmar, Adviser, is confident and composed as weapproach her for an exclusive interview with SMART NewZine. As she readies to answer

our queries on skilling, we immediately get a sense that as a policymaker, she commandssound knowledge about where the skilling movement is headed, or rather must head, asfar as the country’s burgeoning apparel sector is concerned. Excerpts:

On public figures joining skilling movementOf course. Celebrities should now be roped in to take the skillmovement to new heights. They are the ones who can givean emotional yet strong voice to what we have been tellingthe world for years — priorities of the government and overall12th Plan strategy regarding skilling. Together, we can makeNational Skills Mission a thumping success. Personalities likeAamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi — I call thempublic persona-thought leaders — should be asked to join usand convey the message on skilling so that even the last manin the queue can hear what is coming his/her way. Anotheridea is to bring in social media to action.

On arresting migration from rural areasBridging the divide and bringing people from lower-produc-tivity areas to higher-productivity areas can be done by or-ganisations that have a vision and ATDC, I believe, is one suchorganisation. During my last visit to ATDC-Gurgaon, I cameto know that the ATDC-SMART Training project has exceededin meeting the targets set by MOT, Government of India, interms of enrollment, training and placement. Will this helparrest migration? Well, it is an idealistic scenario. As of today,you can arrest migration for a handful of people. Here, ATDCneeds to open more Centres/Skill Camps, go into deep pock-ets in our country, right there at the doorsteps of youth andtrain them according to the current demands.

On industry demand and skill supplyThe training has to be demand-driven; industry must need those skills. In the 12th Plan,we have projected apparel and textiles sector as one of the growth sectors. We need atwo-pronged approach; if there is more demand, you need to provide skilled human re-sources with employability to handle it. One thing that troubles me is that there are severalprivate exporters now getting into the business of skilling. My concern is: Who is monitoringthem? Strict monitoring is required. The Training Modules that ATDC-SMART Centres/SkillCamps are imparting with quality and rigour to students at 175 centres should be replicatedon a nationwide scale so that as far as skill-mapping in the apparel sector is concerned, weare all on the same page.

‘Open’ DialogueThe Integrated Skill Development Scheme of Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, when introduced in October 2010, had probably anticipated the acute skillshortage which started confronting the apparel industry in recent times.

The employment potential of manufacturing sectorfor a developing country is of utmost importance andamong manufacturing industries, apparel industry has thelargest employment potential especially for youth andwomen.

Even with just 30-45 days’ training, a person can earnfrom `6,000 to `8,000 as wages depending upon theState and location. A study of ATDC’s shopfloor-work-force trainee profile shows that 64 percent are womencandidates and 36 percent men.

It is also interesting to note that the semi-urban and rural candidates are the majority constituting 79 per-cent. ATDC has just completed its two-year pilot projectperiod of skill development project — exceeding the tar-get set by MOT, Government of India — having trained52,000 candidates and are now looking forward to thenext four years of the 12th Five-Year Plan (FYP) to trainover 2,16,000 candidates through about 250 centresacross India.

Though these numbers for a single institute networkare very large and probably the highest among all the vocational training institutes, considering the demand forworkforce in the rapidly growing apparel industry, thetask ahead is enormous. The apparel industry units con-tinue to heavily depend on skilled operators which form75 percent of the candidates successfully trained byATDC. It is estimated that between 2006-2013, over sixmillion people were added in the apparel industry work-force and, from 2013 to 2022, about nine million peoplewould be added out of which, eight million would be shop-floor workforce.

ATDC is, therefore, gearing up to new challenges and opportunities. The future of apparel industry can only bemade brighter through skilled workforce and by going upin the value chain for exports as lower price categoriesare facing intense competition from other Asian/South-East Asian countries. The need to upgrade the existingworkforce in the apparel factories, as well as inductingskilled workforce, have become essential for long-termsuccess and to enable India to improve its market sharein the global Apparel Exports.

— Dr. A. Sakthivel, Chairman, AEPC & ATDC & IAM

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

‘Open’ Dialogue is an ATDC forum to discuss, debate and disseminate ideasthat we hope willshape the present andfuture of the textileand apparel industry

DR. RENU S. PARMAR, ADVISER, PLANNING COMMISSION,GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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in focus04

It was launched as a National Mis-sion... but it has grown to become a na-tionwide movement that is gatheringstrength by the day. The National SkillMission is today on practically everyone’sagenda — from Central and State politi-cians to policy planners, from the publicto the private sector, from civil society toconcerned individuals. All hands are on deck. From the au-

gust office of President Pranab Mukher-jee to Planning Commission officials,from corporate honchos like Naina LalKidwai to agenda setters like Congress

The Centre’s Skill Missionis fast becoming a national movement as itfigures on the agenda ofpublic figures across thepolitical and corporatespectrum. And ATDC hasplayed a role in usheringin this change

May 9: Cabinet approves settingup of National Skill Development Agency May 14: Kerala launches Additional Skill DevelopmentProgramme May 23: UP to launch Skill Development Mission, to target2.5 million youthJune 1: Bihar set to skill 10 million people by 2016-17June 4: Skill development programme held for Manipur womenJune 7: Centre to focus on skilldevelopment in Naxal-hit areas

(Selection of headlines from the past month-and-a-half)

FROM MISSIONTO MOVEMENT

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in focus 05

NSDA to provide overarching framework

On June 7, the Government of India constituted the National Skill

Development Agency (NSDA) to ensurethat disadvantaged groups are able tobridge gaps in their skilling needs.

The NSDA, which will function under theambit of the Ministry of Finance, willsubsume the Prime Minister’s NationalCouncil on Skill Development (NCSD),the National Skill Development Coordi-nation Board (NSDCB) and the Office of the Adviser to the PM on Skill Devel-opment, an official statement said.

It will coordinate and harmonise the skilldevelopment efforts of the governmentand the private sector to achieve theskilling targets of the 12th Plan and beyond, the statement added.

NSDA will endeavour to bridge the social, regional, gender and economic divide by ensuring that the skillingneeds of the disadvantaged and margin-alised groups like Scheduled Castes,Scheduled Tribes, Other BackwardCastes, minorities and the differently-abled are met.

While Central Ministries and NationalSkill Development Corporation (NSDC)will continue to implement schemes intheir remit, the NSDA will develop andmonitor an “overarching framework” for skill development, and also anchorthe National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF), which has beentasked with facilitating the setting-up of professional certifying bodies in addition to the existing ones.

NSDA will be an autonomous bodychaired by a person of the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister, supportedby a Director General and other supportstaff, the statement said.

The Union Cabinet had announced the decision to set up the NSDA in May.

FROM MISSIONTO MOVEMENT

(Left) Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Dr. Raman Singhinaugurating the newcampus of ATDC-Raipur.(Right) Odisha Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik distributing offerletters to 90 SMARTtrainees in Gunupur,Odisha.


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Vice President Rahul Gandhi, and fromChief Ministers of large, sprawling stateslike Uttar Pradesh to the man leadingtiny Sikkim... everyone has placedskilling high on their list of priorities (SeeBox: On Everyone’s Agenda). And with good reason. The National

Policy on Skill Development approved bythe Government of India under the 2010National Skill Development Mission hasset itself the ambitious target of skilling500 million people — that’s almost halfthe country’s current population — bythe year 2022. It is a mammoth task and

it requires participation by every segmentof society if it is to be successfully fulfilled.The Centre has been leading the ef-

fort, and in a bid to streamline the rap-idly widening skilling movement, itannounced, on May 9, the setting up ofa National Skill Development Agency(NSDA) as an Apex body to provide over-all guidance and to ensure qualitativenorms are followed as more and moreprivate and public-private organisationsenter the skilling arena. (See Box: NSDAto provide overarching framework).As Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy

Chairman of the Planning Commissionand Chairman of the National Skill De-velopment Co-ordination Board(NSDCB), put it recently: “The purposeof NSDA is to overview skill developmentefforts that are spread among a largenumber of Ministries, though two tothree are most important. Its role willalso be to talk to the states and sensitisethem about the importance of skill de-velopment and to identify success storiesand replicate them.” The country’s premier policy plan-

ning body is also looking at ways to

The purpose of NSDA is to overview skill development efforts that are spreadamong a large number of Ministries, though two to three are most important. Itsrole will also be to talk to the states and sensitise them about the importance ofskill development and to identify success stories and replicate them.— Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission and Chairman, NSDCB

ON EVERYONE’S AGENDAThe government is committed to the

development of the weaker andvulnerable sections of oursociety. It aims at aprocess of rapid and inclusive growth based on empowering the citizens through edu-

cation and skilldevelopment.—President

PranabMukherjee

To meet the demands of the fast-grow-ing economy, we will have to educatethe youth and make them skilled. With-out skilled manpower, wewill not be able to sus-tain the high growthrate of the economyfor long.

—Prime MinisterManmohan Singh

Assuming that 10 lakh youth can bemotivated in one year, skill trainedyouth will give enormous boost in em-ployment and productivity.—Finance Minister P. Chidambaram

I feel women in our country face hugeimpediments due to lack of skills. Wehave to focus on that. The issue of gen-der inequality has to be put up frontand every single effort should be takento address it.

—Planning Commission Member Dr. Syeda Hameed

Chhattisgarh is the first State in thecountry to provide the right to skill de-velopment to the youth. It is compul-sory to provide opportunity for skilldevelopment within 90 days of theapplication.

—Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh

It is the movement of people and ideasthat is going to define this countryin the 21st century. We need tomake ideas move fast. Our

problem is not joblessness, it is lack oftraining and skills. To-gether we must en-sure that ourknowledge, educa-tion and skills de-fines the globalstandard.—Congress VicePresidentRahul

Gandhi

India seeks to create 500 millionskilled workers by 2020 through theNational Mission for Skill Develop-ment and supply its surpluslabour to the world. Ourfocus is on skill creationthrough a large numberof skill developmentcourses and we are in-vesting heavily on ex-panding these.

—Commerce and Industry

Minister AnandSharma


in focus 07

ensure greater participation in theskilling movement and to popularise it even further. As Dr. Renu S. Parmar,Adviser, Planning Commission, toldSmart Newzine: “Celebrities should nowbe roped in to take the skill movement tonew heights. They are the ones who cangive an emotional yet strong voice towhat we have been telling the world foryears... Personalities like Aamir Khan,Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi — Icall them public persona-thought lead-ers — should convey the message onskilling so that even the last man in thequeue can hear what is coming his/herway.” (See Open Dialogue)As the apparel and textiles sector —

the second-largest provider of direct em-ployment in India after agriculture — isa key focus area, the Apparel Trainingand Design Centre (ATDC) has been atthe forefront of the skilling movementand is also doing its best to widen itsscope. After receiving the mandate fromthe Union Ministry of Textiles to drive the

skilling requirements of the apparel sec-tor as a nodal agency, ATDC has, inunder three years, enrolled over 62,000people and trained over 52,000 at its 175nationwide hubs and peripatetic centres,called SMART Centres, which expand to‘Skills for Manufacturing of Apparelthrough Research and Training’. In the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-13 to

2016-17) that is now underway, ATDChas set itself a target of skilling 2.5 lakhpeople. And this, according to Dr. A.Sakhtivel, Chairman, ATDC, can only beachieved by bringing in more partners,collaborators, as well as public figures,into the skilling movement. As Dr. Sakhtivel puts it: “Forge part-

nerships — that is our mantra. We haveforged partnerships across the public-private and Centre-State spaces so asto cast the net wide and bring in peoplefrom every strata of society.”ATDC has successfully persuaded

several public figures to lend their weightto the skilling movement. Among the

early supporters was Union Parliamen-tary Affairs Minister Shri Kamal Nath,who has practically turned his Chhind-wara constituency in Madhya Pradeshinto a multi-skill hub — a place whereATDC’s integrated campus housingSMART Centre, Community College andthe Training of Trainers’ (TOT) academyhas found a home in a five-acre plot. “Not just Shri Kamal Nath, several

other leaders like Chhattisgarh Chief Min-ister Raman Singh, Odisha Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik, Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot or Kerala Social Welfare andPanchayat Minister M.K. Muneer havelent us a hand and actively helped us todeepen the skilling movement in their re-spective states,” points out Mr. HariKapoor, Vice Chairman, ATDC.“We recently had Hon’ble Member of

Parliament Smt. Sonia Gandhi visit ourSMART Centre in Rae Bareli and encour-age the staff and students to improveskills,” he adds. (See Story: Not just avisit...A giant leap for skill).

We have a paradoxical situation in ourcountry. Employers complain of notfinding suitably skilledcandidates and onthe other handthere are millionsof unemployed insearch of jobs.

—FICCI President R.V.

Kanoria

The establishment of a full-fledgedState Institute of Capacity Building inSikkim has facilitated training, transferof knowledge and building stronger ca-pacities to a large number of the unem-ployed youth. (Theinitiative) has witnessedcommendable successwith placement figuresexceeding well over 70% inthe hospitality sectoralone.—Sikkim Chief

Minister Pawan

Chamling

Uttar Pradesh has the highest youngpopulation and to leverage this demo-graphic dividend the state governmenthas accorded top priority to skill development.

—Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadav

The importance of skills has to be re-alised before the implications of it onour economy become starker. The eco-nomic implications in terms of the op-portunity cost of not training theswelling workforce timely will be veryhigh… However tapping this opportu-nity may not only have the potential ofpositioning us ahead in the race, butcan also position us as game-changers.

— FICCI Senior Vice President Naina Lal Kidwai

The Tata Group of companies is keento support the creation of skill devel-opment centres that can sit atthe heart of sustainable com-munities in India.— Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus P. Mistry

Skill development has been accordedhigh priority. The Tamil Nadu Skill Development Mission, with aSpecial Purpose Vehicle,will be at the vanguard ofthese efforts to addressthe skill issue with a flex-ible approach.

—Tamil NaduChief Minister

J. Jayalalithaa

The capacity-building and skills en-hancement initiatives have empoweredrural youth in a mannerthat they have startedgenerating aware-ness and taking activepart in social welfareactivities. The Ministryis channelising the en-ergy of youth towardsnation building.

—Youth Affairsand Sports Minister

Jitendra Singh


in focus08

Not just Shri Kamal Nath, several other leaders like Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterRaman Singh, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot or Kerala Social Welfare and Panchayat Minister M.K. Muneer havelent us a hand and actively helped us to deepen the skilling movement in theirrespective states. — Mr. Hari Kapoor, Vice Chairman, ATDC

There are also several instances ofMembers of Parliament and Members ofLegislative Assemblies getting involvedin the skilling movement by using theirLocal Area Development funds to bringATDC’s training expertise to the youth oftheir constituencies. It is now well under-stood by those formulating public policyas well as politicians across the partyspectrum and thought leaders from allwalks of life that India’s much-touted de-mographic dividend — an offshoot of its overwhelmingly young population —will amount to little if the youth are not skilled and made employable by the apparel industry. “There is a consensus that our youth

have to be skilled. In industries like ap-parel, above 64 percent of candidates arewomen. The training centres have a spe-cial significance for not only impartingskills but in improving lives,” notes Dr.Darlie O. Koshy, Director General & CEOof ATDC and the Institute of ApparelManagement (IAM).The reason for the concensus is not

hard to see. The benefits of skilling areonly too evident — more so in a sectorsuch as textiles and apparel. “The kind of skilling that needs to be

done in this sector, as well as the demo-graphic that it targets, ties in nicely withthe Government of India’s larger goal ofwomen’s empowerment, the empower-ing of the underprivileged and the mar-ginalised, of green growth — indeed, withthe idea of inclusive development,” saysDr. Koshy. The apparel sector has non-polluting units that discharge no efflu-ents, and it also consumes less power. Asthe industry practice is to have one per-son per machine, it is also employmentintensive. It is an industry that is compli-ant with all labour laws and is very par-ticular about avoiding child labour.More importantly, ATDC has been

imparting skills that are useful towomen, even when they do not eventu-ally join the industry. In the pilot projectperiod alone, around 10,000 candidatesgot trained in embroidery and other

value-addition/surface ornamentationtechniques, which have a huge role toplay in popularising Indian fashions. Lit-tle wonder, more than 64 percent of thepeople who have been imparted skills byATDC are women.Thanks to partnerships with bodies such

as Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS),the National Backward Classes Finance andDevelopment Corporation (NBCFDC), theNational Scheduled Castes Finance Devel-opment Corporation (NSFDC), the Na-tional Scheduled Tribes Finance andDevelopment Corporation (NSTFDC), theNational Safai Karamcharis Finance Devel-opment Corporation (NSKFDC), the TamilNadu Skill Development Mission(TNSDM), Kerala State Women’s Develop-

ment Corporation (KSWDC), RIICO, Ra-jasthan or the Rajiv Education and Employ-ment Mission in Andhra Pradesh(REEMAP), ATDC has been able to targetthe underprivileged and marginalised, es-pecially at non-urban centres.This, too, is reflected in its student

profile: when mountain does not cometo Mohammad, Mohammad goes to themountain is the approach of ATDC bysetting up Skill Camps — a normal con-cept in the rural catchment areas, saysDr. Darlie Koshy. “That is just the demo-graphic that requires skilling the most.And that’s the demographic that the gov-ernment seeks to target,” he adds.The involvement of public figures and

institutions fulfills another key function— that of bridging the finance gap. Withbudgets available for skilling of their tar-get groups, Central and State bodies, aswell as MPs and MLAs, are able to spon-sor ATDC candidates and help them become industry-ready. Similarly, for public or private sector

corporations with Corporate Social Re-sponsibility (CSR) goals, collaboratingwith ATDC means putting their moneyto effective use. One example is the Ra-jasthan Industrial Development and In-vestment Corporation (RIICO), which ismandated to attract investors to the stateand provide them the infrastructure tosuccessfully do business.It works for everyone to forge alliances

with an organisation like ATDC. ATDC’sSMART offers a ‘Master scalable, replica-ble model’. It has state-of-the-art facilitiesand highly developed infrastructure, in-cluding simulated factory environmentto improve ‘employability’ and can beeasily adapted to specific requirements ofthe partner organisations or agencies.ATDC’s standardised training modulesand curricula make it easier for traineesto get absorbed in the apparel sector.The ATDC model is now being widely

appreciated, and is attracting more andmore public figures — and helping itlead the skilling movement, especially inthe apparel sector.

(Top) Finance Minister Shri P. Chidambaramand Parliamentary Affairs Minister KamalNath at ATDC-Chhindwara campus; (Above)Kerala Social Welfare and Panchayat MinisterM.K. Muneer inaugurating the ATDC-SMARTSkill Camp at Kozhikode.


in focus 09

Just like family... ATDC treats its trainees notas mere students, but as apart of a large joint ‘ATDCfamily,’ and PriyadarshiniSahu can vouch for thisfact. Priyadarshini enrolledherself in the Apparel Man-ufacturing Technology(AMT) course at ATDC-

Bhubaneswar in July 2011. However, the roadturned rough when her father lost his job and shewas left with no choice but to discontinue withthe course. That’s when her extended family —the ATDC-Bhubaneswar faculty and staff — contributed towards her course fees. Priyadarshininot only completed her course successfully but got placed with Banswara Syntex, Gujarat, as a Production Executive at a salary of `10,000 permonth. Today, Priyadarshini falls short of words to thank ATDC for shaping her future.

Confusions no moreLife was full of confusions for Ellora Das, who had lefther studies and was in a desperate need for a job.Thats when an ATDC advertisement caught her eye.

Ellora enrolled herselfin the Apparel Manufac-turing Technology (AMT)course at ATDC-Bhubaneswar in 2010 andtook the vertical progres-sion track to complete heradvance diploma in Ap-parel Manufacturing in2011. Ellora has neverlooked backed since then. She started off as

an executive with AMEES Uniforms and has now become a profit sharing partner of the company, which is a major supplier of school uni-forms in Odisha with two retail outlets inBhubaneswar.

Setting an example Just when Mandakini Naik was about to lose hope,ATDC gave her life a new direction. Thanks to a sponsorship by the District Rural Development Agency,Baripada, Mandakini joined the Sewing Machine Operator (Basic) course at ATDC-Bhubaneswar. Once she successfully completed her course,

Mandikini was recruited by Victus Dyeing Garment, Tirupur, on a salary of `10,000 permonth. Mandakini has become a skilled machineoperator now and sends money to her family in Mayurbhanj every month.

BEND IT LIKE ATDC

Towards greater heightsFrom a student strivingto make it big in the ap-parel industry to han-dling internationaloffices of one of the bestmultinational retail-clothing companies ofthe world. This decadelong journey has notbeen easy for AditiBharadwaj. However,the one thing that hasbrought her this far inthe success ladder is abelief — a belief in the skills, creativity,confidence and passion that her almamater, ATDC, has instilled in her.Aditi successfully completed the Ap-

parel Manufacturing Technology (AMT)course and got placed with SMS Ex-

ports as a merchandiser. “ATDC has abig role to play in kick-starting my pro-fessional journey,” says Aditi. And there was no looking back after

that. The golden period in Aditi’s lifecommenced in the formof H&M, the famousSwedish multinationalretail-clothing com-pany. She joined H&Mas a merchandiser andsoon after, she was sentto Bangladesh and lateron to Sri Lanka as aSenior Merchandiserand Product Manager. “This is all because

of ATDC. Today when Iinteract with my col-

leagues from institutes like NIFT orPearl, I don’t see a difference anymore.I proudly say “I’m an ATDC alumnus,’”Aditi sumps up.Aditi is a true ATDC success story,

who will go on to inspire several others.

SHOWING THE WAY

A perfect startMilind Kumar always wanted to become anentrepreneur. This dream got a perfect startwhen Milind enrolled himself in a one-yearDiploma programme at ATDC-Okhla. After successfully completing the course, he got

placed with Indian Handi-craft as a Senior QualityAnalyst. After accumu-lating a rich experi-ence, Milind did whathe always wanted to do— started his own export house. Today, hiscompany, Mannat Cre-ations, is doing briskbusiness, andMilind creditshis success toATDC.

Acquiring life-changing skillsSkill development in India is witnessing an unprecedented thrust from all quarters. No stone is being left unturned to meet the humongous task of

skilling 500 million people by 2022. The ATDC network is a frontrunner in this skilling mission. Through its presence near almost every apparel manufacturing cluster in the country, ATDC has trained over 52,000 and enrolled over 62,000 candidates in just two years and scripted several success

stories. Here are a few examples that stand testament to ATDC’s mission — Imparting Skills and Improving Lives.

A NATURAL CHOICE


in focus10

For the faculty and students of theATDC-SMART centre at RaeBareli, March 25 will remain a

memorable day — a day they will talkabout for years to come. It was the daythat Hon’ble Member of Parliamentfrom Rai Bareli Smt. Sonia Gandhidropped in for a brief visit.Time did not appear to be a con-

straint as the busy Smt. Gandhi, who isthe MP from Rae Bareli, spent quality

time at the centre, interacting with andencouraging both staff and ATDC stu-dents, and evincing a keen interest inthe latest sewing technologies on dis-play at the centre.Smt. Gandhi, who was clad in an el-

egant burnt orange Ikat sari with adeep blue border, was formally wel-comed to the centre by Apparel Train-ing & Design Centre (ATDC)Vice-Chairman Shri Hari Kapoor and

Dr. Darlie O. Koshy, Director Generaland CEO, ATDC & the Institute of Ap-parel Management (IAM). Smt. Gandhi then embarked on a

tour of the SMART Centre, lookingwithkeen interest the state-of-the-art infra-structure and machinery used to createa skilled workforce for the rapidlygrowing export and domestic sectors ofthe garment industry. Smt. Gandhi was given a detailed

...A GIANT LEAP FOR SKILL

Smt. Sonia Gandhi being presented ahandwoven, block-printed sareemade by an ATDC student at ATDC-SMART Centre, Rae Bareli.

Hon’ble Member of Parliament from Rae Bareli Smt. Sonia Gandhi visits ATDC-SMART Centre at Rae Bareli

NOT JUST A VISIT...


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The Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS)-ATDCpartnership is going places in the state of UttarPradesh.

NYKS has sanctioned a Pilot-Project at Bara-banki and Unnao, sponsoring 180 trainees,along with bridge-gap contribution for thecourse fee.

Seeing the positive progress of mobilisationand enrollment of trainees in these two places,NYKS has sanctioned an additional 540trainees at Amethi, Allahabad, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Pandrauna, Lakhimpur,

Sitapur and Shahjahanpur. Earlier, giving a fur-ther boost to its association with ATDC, NYKSaccorded dovetail support for 4,320 candidatesunder the ATDC-SMART Training Project of theISDS, Ministry of Textiles, GOI, till March 2013.

For the financial year 2013-14, NYKS has set atarget to train 15,000 youth through ATDC Pan-India network.

Aiming to replicate the success of the pilotproject in UP, NYKS and ATDC-SMART have decided to start training programmes at selectlocations across 68 districts in India.

NYKS-ATDC Partnershipdemonstration of each and every workstation as well as the newly-installedfusing machine, cutting machine andthe computerised sewing machines.While briefing Smt. Gandhi about thestudents, Shri Hari Kapoor said that atotal of 90 female trainees were under-going training under the ISDS of MOT,GOI, with additional sponsorship sup-port of the Nehru Yuva Kendra San-gathan (NYKS). Smt. Gandhi then spent valuable

time interacting with the enrolled stu-dents and gathering feedback aboutthe centre — and appreciated the goodwork being done by ATDC under theATDC-SMART project.“The quality of training at ATDC is

very good as the teachers provide max-imum technical information through apractical approach,” ATDC alumnusMs. Naina Naiwar, who is now a guestfaculty, told Smt. Gandhi.The ATDC team then presented a

souvenir to Smt. Gandhi — a handwo-ven, block-printed saree with 100 per-cent natural dye made by ATDCalumnus Deepak Verma, a recipient ofthe Hast-Shilp award (1991), RIICO,Government of Rajasthan; MasterTrainer Award (1994), RIICO, Govern-ment of Rajasthan; and Kala-NidhiAward (1996), Surajkund Craft Fair,Government of Haryana. Other officials present during the

visit included Mr. Rishi Pal Singh andMr. Pradeep Singh from the NehruYuva Kendra Sangathan, Rae Bareli;and Ms. Allika Gupta, State Coordina-tor, Uttar Pradesh, and PrincipalATDC-Kanpur.

Traditional craftsThe Zardozi handicraft clusters in Uttar Pradesh supports an estimated1,75,000 Zardozi artisans and nearly 2,00,000 people are directly involvedin the supply and value chain

Generating livelihoodOverall, the handloom and powerloom units in the state provide liveli-hood to nearly a million families who, together, manufacture over 600million metres of different textiles in a year.

Potential areas for industry/new MSMEsIndustrial consultancy, Industrial R&D lab and industrial testing lab, Internet browsing/cyber cafés, Laundry and dry cleaning, Tailoring, EDP institutes, Textiles and textiles articles

Clusters (related to textiles/tailoring) l Banarasi Saree, Naseerabad Blockl Tailoring (job work)

Garment industry scenario in Rae Bareli No. of Units Investment* Employment

1.Cotton Textile 1 0.67 482. Woolen, Silk & Artificial Thread-based clothes 07 0.04 303. Jute & Jute-based 0 0 04. Ready-made Garment & Embroidery 995 13.12 3,300

* In crore; Source: DIC Raebareli

UTTAR PRADESH: APPAREL INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE


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Try discussing traditional In-dian handcrafts that have gone globaland earned a respectful place on theapparel and textiles map, andLakhnawi Zardozi and Chikankariwould come on top of your mind.

These unique needle-based embroi-dery techniques, accorded the Geo-graphical Indication (GI) registration bythe Geographical Indication Registry(GIR), always ensured a special statusfor Uttar Pradesh in the national ap-parel and textiles scenario.

The Zardozi handicraft cluster inLucknow and nearby seven districtssupports an estimated 1,75,000 Zardozi

artisans and nearly 2,00,000 people aredirectly involved in the supply andvalue chain — preparing Zardozi prod-ucts like apparel, home furnishings,shoes and bags, etc. which are soldthroughout India and exported acrossthe world. Same is the story aboutChikankari. Silk products from Varanasiand carpets from Bhadohi and Mirza-pur districts are other well-known tex-tiles products from Uttar Pradesh.

Overall, the handloom and power-loom units in the state provide liveli-hood to nearly a million families who,together, manufacture over 600 millionmetres of different textiles in a year.

Not a very great figure but then, “Hewho has little can only gain,” said therenowned thinker Lao-tzu.

That Uttar Pradesh has now comeout of this slumber and now wants torun along with other states on the ap-parel track was cemented recentlywhen UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadavannounced that his government wantsto spur future expansion in clothingand textiles through major industrialand infrastructure investments.

Since the apparel action is in Luc-know and nearby seven districts, ATDCbegan the skilling movement from thisbelt, apart from focusing on the Na-tional Capital Region (Noida and

As the Uttar Pradesh

government aims to spur

apparel expansion in the

state, ATDC captures the

mood and begins skilling

rural youth, women and

people at the fringes for a

better future

Seizing UP’sdemographicdividend

Smt. Zohra Chatterji, IAS, Textiles Secretary, Ministryof Textiles, GOI, at ATDC Rae Bareli Centre.

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Ghaziabad) near the Capital. In 2007,the ATDC-Kanpur Centre was estab-lished. Till date, the Centre has trainedover 2,000 candidates through its 10Skill Camps in the state (see box andread our UP special on Page 17).

ATDC went beyond just training onits own and, in 2012, collaborated withthe Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan(NYKS), an autonomous organisationunder the Ministry of Youth Affairs,Government of India, NABARD, CanaraBank and Syndicate Bank to spreadskilling movement beyond the appareland textiles belt of UP.

“Such training programmes needmobilisation and bridge finance sup-port and the NYKS-ATDC associationcan deliver better results on theground. The buzz has now reached thetop, with Hon’ble Member of Parlia-ment from Rae Bareli Smt. SoniaGandhi visiting the Rai Bareli Centre re-cently. This will help our cause,” saysJ.P.S. Negi, Zonal Director, NYKS.

“Though NYKS has been associatedwith vocational training for long, theassociation with ATDC has opened an-other avenue to equip youth andwomen with livelihood skills,” he adds.

“The future is bright. With ATDC, Ihope that skill training needs of ruralyouth and disadvantaged sectionswould be met in time to help us realiseour common goal — to prepare indus-try-ready workforce,” he adds.

In the vicinity of New Delhi, the

Noida Apparel Export Cluster (NAEC)under the pro-active leadership of LalitThukral, MD, Maharana of India, is nowa role model for cluster development.

Initiated in July 2007, the NAEC hascome a long way and has become asource of knowledge, motivation andtrouble shooting for exporters in Noida.

Today, the Noida belt, includingGreater Noida, houses over 3,000 gar-ment units. “The state governmentshould provide good infrastructurecoupled with friendly policies to the ap-parel sector — the way China is helpingits apparel and textiles players. Besides,the sector needs rebate in sales tax, in-come tax or exemption under the In-come Tax Act for next 10 years.”

“The fact that ATDC has successfully

begun to make inroads into the rural andsemi-rural areas of the state, it wouldbring a sea change in the apparel map ofUttar Pradesh. ATDC-SMART Centreswould help the industry smoothen pro-duction and increase output becausegarment units in Noida are facing acutelabour shortage. If labour shortage issolved, the apparel industry in Noidaalone can provide jobs to over 10 lakhpeople in next two years,” he adds.

Hear it from Kirti Dhawan, PersonnelOfficer, HR Department, Orient Fash-ions that has been hiring ATDC-trainedcandidates for long. “They come indus-try-ready and so it becomes easier for usto mould them in any shape accordingto our requirements.”

Skilling requires a huge boost and“ATDC has to play a vital role in provid-ing trained workforce to the industry.They need to open even more SMARTCentres in rural/semi-urban areas andvillages across Uttar Pradesh so that thestate can become a harbinger of growthfor the apparel players,” he adds.

“As far as providing infrastructureand maintaining a fine workplace bal-ance is concerned, Uttar Pradesh, spe-cially Noida, is always an ideal place forapparel players like us. The state isfriendly for us as concerned authoritiesare always willing to help,” he adds.

At a time when Uttar Pradesh isplanning to go beyond Zardozi andChikankari, ATDC is ready to fulfill thestate’s needs for skilled hands.

The fact that ATDC has begun to makeinroads into the rural and semi-ruralareas of Uttar Pradesh would bring asea change in the apparel map here.The apparel and textiles scenario can bechanged via collective partnership.— Mr. Lalit Thukral, President,Noida Apparel Export Cluster

Though NYKS has been associated withvocational training for long, the association with ATDC has opened another avenue to equip youth andwomen with livelihood skills. This asso-ciation would help us realise our goals.— J.P.S. Negi, Zonal Director, NYKS

ATDC has to play a vital role in providingtrained workforce to industry. They needto open even more SMART Centres inrural/semi-urban areas and villagesacross Uttar Pradesh so that the statecan become a harbinger of growth.— Kirti Dhawan, Personnel Officer, HR, Orient Fashions

ATDC’s presence in UPn ATDC Community Colleges in UP:Noida and KanpurnATDC-SMART Skill Camps in UP: 14 nKanpur (Operational) - Rae Bareli,Amethi, Unnao, Pratapgarh, Muradna-gar, Barabanki, Hardoi, Shahjahanpur,Padrauna, Lakhimpur & Sitapur nRest of UP: Loni, Muradnagar,Greater Noida nDetails of students trained: ATDC-Kanpur has trained over 2,000 stu-dents. In Rae Bareli, 90 traineessponsored by NYKS are being trained

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Romanian Minister for Textiles,SMEs, Business Environment andTourism, H.E Maria Grapini, has

invited the Apparel Training & DesignCentre (ATDC) to set up a ‘Similar Train-ing Hub’ in her country to help develophuman resources for the apparel andtextiles sector. Leading a 17-memberdelegation to the ATDC National HeadOffice in Gurgaon recently, MinisterGrapini said ATDC has the requiredknow-how needed for skill developmentin the apparel manufacturing industry. “Having experience of over 35 years

in the apparel industry, I understandvery well the sectors in which Romaniacan collaborate with India,” she stressed.Briefing the Minister on the Indian

apparel industry and the impact of ATDCon skill development, Dr. Darlie O.Koshy, DG & CEO, ATDC & IAM, made adetailed presentation followed by a tourof state-of-the-art facilities at ATDC. Dr.Koshy said the ATDC could offer ‘Train-ing of Trainers’ through its three Trainingof Trainers’ (TOT) Academies.

Accompanied by members fromMinistry of Economy, Romania and representatives of leading Romanian apparel organisations, Minister Grapinialso visited the SMART Hub, TOT Academy and ATDC-JUKI Tech Innova-tion Centre — all housed in the samebuilding.

Earlier, Minister Grapini, on behalfof the Ministry of Economy of Romaniaand Smt. Zohra Chatterji, on behalf ofthe Ministry of Textiles, Government ofIndia, signed a Memorandum of Un-derstanding on cooperation in thefields of textiles, clothing and fashion industries.

GLOBAL CONNECTION

Remarcabil! Romania eyes ATDC for skilling

From Rajasthan, with love!

ATDC-SMART Centres/Skill Camps inRajasthan have played such a signif-icant role in creating micro-enterpriseentrepreneurs from students of thelower strata of the society that now, thenews has reached African and SouthAsian shores. In order to get acclimatised with

ATDC’s skill model of preparing indus-try-ready workforce, a foreign delegationvisited the ATDC-Jaipur campus re-cently. The delegation consisted of 37participants from Ethiopia, Guinea,Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Yemen,Indonesia, Vietnam, Mauritius, Bhutan,Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Led by the Department of Science

and Technology (DST), Govt. of Ra-jasthan, the visit was coordinated by theNational Institute for Entrepreneurshipand Small Business Development andDST Jaipur. During the visit, ATDC-Jaipur team

gave a presentation on ATDC skill train-ing initiatives for the apparel sector inRajasthan, followed by a guided tour ofstate-of-the-art facilities at ATDC. The delegation not only interacted

and motivated students to hone theirskills but also praised ATDC short andlong-term vocational training coursesthat help increase productivity and effi-ciency of the trainees.

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EVEN GANGRAR IS NOT BEHIND

The ATDC-SMART Centre atGangrar, Chittorgarh, has be-

come a talking point not onlyamong the Indian government offi-cials but American universities aswell. First, Shikhar Agarwal, IAS, PSto Adviser to the Prime Minister onNational Council on Skill Develop-ment, visited ATDC-SMART Gan-grar Centre and later, a team fromUniversity of Toledo, Ohio, USA, en-sured that they don't miss out onthe skilling movement and visitedthe Centre recently.

The visits were part of the twoteams’ tour to Mewar University,which runs the Gangrar Centre incollaboration with ATDC. The USteam was in for a surprise whenthey saw students being trained instate-of-the-art environment, andpraised the efforts to train ruralyouth, especially women.

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Planning Commission hails ATDC’s effortsVISITS/SEMINARS/FAIRS

In a significant move to assess ATDC’s efforts to prepare indus-try-ready workforce, a high-level delegation from the PlanningCommission, Government of India, visited ATDC’s NationalHead Office at Paridhan Vikas Bhawan in Gurgaon recently. Thedelegation, headed by Dr. Renu S. Parmar, Adviser, PlanningCommission, was welcomed by Shri Hari Kapoor, Vice-Chair-man, ATDC and Dr. Darlie O. Koshy, DG & CEO, ATDC & IAM.In a presentation, Dr. Darlie Koshy highlighted the skill

training programmes being conducted by 175 ATDC Centresthrough SMART project and Community College network. After taking stock of ATDC activities, Dr. Parmar and other

delegation members were certain about one fact — ATDC’sexpertise in skilling people to meet industry demands viaworld-class infrastructure has set new benchmarks and stan-dards including ‘Training of Trainers’. Dr. Parmar also visitedthe state-of-the-art ATDC-JUKI Tech Innovation Centre thataims to revolutionise apparel training.

The Indian garment industry has enormous potential andcapacity to scale up operations to meet the challengesfaced by the competition coming from Bangladesh and China.And the world-class training that ATDC is providing can helpthe industry achieve this target. This is what industry leaderswere unanimous about after visiting ATDC-Ranchi Centre.The officials from Juki India Private Limited and India Indus-trial Garment Machines Pvt. Ltd. (IIGM) held an open housediscussion with students on varied issues such as careers in gar-ment industry, newer technological interventions, best practicesand comparison with apparel clusters, among others.

Denim jewellery,denim collars,

denim hairbands anddenim bracelets — these were some of the products designedby students of the Institute of Apparel Management (IAM) at‘Indigo 2013’, a denim trade event, in Noida. The event wasinaugurated by H.E. Burak Akcapar, Ambassador of Turkey toIndia, in the presence of Shri S.N. Modani, MD, SangamDenim; Dr. Darlie O. Koshy, DG & CEO, IAM & ATDC; and Mr.Harinder Lamba, CEO, MUST Garments, Bahrain.

SMART INNOVATIONS

Famous Latin poet Marcus Valerius Martialis once said,“Life is not merely being alive, but being well.” And ATDC

is right at the forefront in ensuring the well-being of its em-ployees, particularly those who cannot afford the costly med-ical expenditures. From this year onwards, ATDC hasextended the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme (ESI) toemployees who are drawing a salary of ̀ 15,000 and below.

The ESI Scheme provides full medical care in the form ofmedical attendance, treatment, drugs and injections, specialistconsultation and hospitalisation to insured people and to mem-bers of their families where the facility for specialist consulta-tion/hospitalisation has been extended to the families. Over200 ATDC employees have been covered recently underESI. Other employees are given mediclaim protection.

ENSURING A HEALTHY ATDC FAMILY

ATDC POWERING GARMENT INDUSTRY When denim came alive

In a unique initiative, ATDC has branded its Annual DayCelebrations — across the 25 ATDC Community Col-leges and over 150 SMART Centres/Skill Camps in 22states — as ‘SPARK’.

In the words of Dr. Darlie O. Koshy, DG & CEO, ATDC& IAM, “the pan-India ‘SPARK’ celebrations would encourage demonstration of new ideas, and spur a new relationship among alumni, apparel units andATDC.

Keeping up with this idea, ATDC-Chhindwara andATDC-Thiruvananthapuram recently concluded ‘SPARK’celebrations at respective centres.

ATDC now plans to organise a national-level ‘Best ofSpark’ Event.

SPARK: ATDC’S ANNUAL DAY FESTS


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TRAINING PROGRAMMES/NEW INITIATIVES

With a view to help the ATDCtrainers improve their com-mand over computer aided

designing (CAD) techniques and en-hance their digital designing skills,ATDC-SMART Training of Trainers(ToT) Academy, in collaboration withInfo Creations, conducted a workshopon Adobe softwares at ATDC’s NationalHeadoffice at Paridhan Vikas Bhawan inGurgaon from May 21-23. The three-day workshop imparted

knowledge about the theoretical as wellas practical implementations of AdobePhotoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe In-Design and Adobe Acrobat X Pro. Mr. Tejinder Singh, Vice President of

Frameboxx, a leading animation insti-tute and training partners for Adobe,conducted the training through audio-visual and practical demonstrations. A total of 15 ATDC trainers — from

ATDC centres in Okhla, Gurgaon, Ro-hini, Noida, Dilshad Garden, Faridabad,Jaipur, Kanpur and Ludhiana — partic-ipated in the workshop, which con-cluded with a certificate distributionceremony by DG & CEO, ATDC & IAM.Adobe software training is particularly

useful to upgrade the concepts and skills oflecturers and instructors imparting ATDCCommunity College courses, especially forfashion designing subjects and computer-aided designing (CAD) courses.

Enhancing digital designing skills

ATDC-JUKI organise workshop on Attachment Making In order to upgradethe knowledgebase and skill levelsof ATDC instructors ,trainers and machinemechanics and ap-parel industry partic-ipants, the ATDC-SMART Training ofTrainers’ (TOT) Aca-demy organised aworkshop on Attach-ment Making recently. Organised in collaboration with JUKI

India Pvt. Ltd, the workshop was con-ducted by Kenji Takahashi, In-charge,Technical Expert, JUKI Sewing Research

Institute, Japan, atthe ATDC-JUKI TechInnovation Centre atATDC NHO recently.Mr. Takahashi ex-

plained various at-tachment-makingprocesses such asHemmer, TapeFolder and PipingBinder, etc. Theworkshop also in-

volved practical exercises and use of toolsand machines like work bench, vice,bench drill, buffing machine, belt sander,drill bits for steel, soldering iron and var-ious hand tools and articles.

ATDC entered the era of EnterpriseResource Planning as ERP-Pragatiwent live on April 1, thus beginning aprocess of massive transformation in theway ATDC manages its training activitiesand business transactions as a whole.The real value of ERP lies in its enter-prise-wide integration, which helpsachieve a greater focus. The team successfully completed ERP

training across all regions spanning theATDC network —Gurgaon (North),

Mumbai (West), Trivandrum (South) andBhubaneswar (East).Needless to say, ERP-Pragati would

empower the ATDC officials, faculty, staff and other stakeholders to co-createvalue.

In order to foster strong linkageswith the industry and provide im-mediate job opportunities to unem-ployed youth in Tamil Nadu,ATDC-Tirupur has established anin-factory SMART Training Cell at Vespa Garments in Karaikudidistrict.

Established under the 'IndustrySponsored SMART for ComplianceTraining' of the Integrated Skill De-velopment Scheme (ISDS), Min-istry of Textiles, Govt. of India, thetraining cell has been started as apilot project for a period of threemonths.

The Vespa ATDC-SMART Train-ing Cell is being coordinated bythe SMART Project team at ATDCNHO, Gurgaon, while the adminis-trative/ accounting support for theCell is being given by ATDC-Tirupur. At present, two batches oftrainees are undergoing training inthe Smart Operator (Basic) course.After successfully completing thecourse, these candidates will beabsorbed by Vespa Garments.

A win-win situation for bothATDC and industry leaders!

IN-FACTORY SMARTTRAINING CELL IN TN

ERP-Pragati goes live


With the inauguration of two newATDC-SMART Skill Camps in West

Bengal, ATDC has taken another step totrain youth, women and disadvantagedsections of the society in the state. These

camps were inaugurated at Park Circus,Kolkata, and Halisahar, North 24 Parganasdistrict. The Park Circus Skill Camp wasinaugurated on March 21 in the presenceof Mr. Sushil Sharma, Councillor, KolkataMunicipal Corporation, which has spon-sored 192 candidates for Sewing MachineOperator advanced course.The Skill Camp at Halisahar was in-

augurated by Dr. Rabindra NathMukherjee, Chairman, Halisahar Munic-ipality. With Park Circus and Halisahar,the total number of ATDC CommunityColleges/Centres/Skill Camps in thestate has gone up to 11.

In order to reach out to the youth inChhattisgarh, ATDC-Raipur has relo-cated its campus to the heart of the

city. The new campus was inaugurated re-cently by Dr. Raman Singh, Chief Ministerof Chhattisgarh, in the presence of Mr.H.K.L. Magu, Senior Vice Chairman,AEPC; Mr. Ramesh Bais, MP, Lok Sabha;Mr. Rajesh Munat, Chhattisgarh Govern-ment; Mr. Brij Mohan Agrawal, Minister,Chhattisgarh Government; Mr. BadridharDiwan, Chairman, Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation

Limited (CSIDC); Ms. Laxmi Verma,Chairperson, Zila Panchayat, Raipur; Mr.G.K. Bhasin, GM, ATDC-SMART andother eminent dignitaries.

Skill expansion in West Bengal

news flags 17

New campus for ATDC-Raipur INAUGURATIONS

East or West, ATDC stays the SMARTEST

ATDC has a pan-India presenceand to further cement its positionas a leader in skilling youth,women and those living at margin-alised layers of the society, it hasgone on a drive like never before.

In Uttar PradeshATDC-Noida has launched twonew SMART Centres in the state —at Bilaspur and Muradnagar. TheBilaspur centre, located at ShivrajSharma Intermediate College,commenced its activities by im-parting training to the first batch of50 candidates in SMART SewingMachine Operator (Basic) course.Another SMART-Skill Camp was or-ganised for OBC youths in AkarraRasoolpur, Shahjahanpur, whereincandidates were provided trainingin Apparel Manufacturing Technol-ogy, Fashion Design, and GarmentConstruction Technique courses.

In MaharashtraATDC-Mumbai recently launched aSMART Peripatetic Centre in Dhule.The Centre commenced its activi-ties by imparting training to 80 can-didates in SMART OrnamentationTechnique, SMART Operator(Basic) and SMART Operator (Ad-vance) courses. The candidateshave been sponsored by OBCMaha Mandal and LIDCOM.

In Tamil NaduTo address the shortage of skilledworkforce at the floor level, ATDC-Chennai has launched a ATDC-SMART Centre at Krishnagiri.Established with the support of T. Ekambavanan, President, Krish-nagiri District Small and Tiny In-dustries Association (KRIDISTIA),the Centre will offer fast-trackSMART courses.

In a move to train a large pool of un-employed youth in non-industrialcities in Punjab, ATDC-Ludhiana inau-gurated three new SMART Skill Campsin the state — at Dhuri, Sunam andFaridkot — recently.The Skill

Camps at Dhuriand Sunam wereinaugurated byShri S. SukhdevSingh Dhindsa, MP, GOI, in the presenceof Shri H.S. Kingra, CMD, National Sched-uled Castes Finance and DevelopmentCorporation. At present, Garment Con-struction Techniques (GCT) course isbeing offered to SC candidates in theseSkill Camps.

Punjab is nextAT D C -Surat haslaunched anew SMARTSkill Camp atthe Skills andEntrepreneurship Development Insti-tute (SEDI) campus, Gandhinagar(Uvarsad village), with generous support from the Ambuja CementFoundation.A batch of 40 students have already

been trained at the Skill Camp whichwas inaugurated in the presence of Mr.Parag Shah, President and Mr. AmitShah, Director of Mahila Utkrast SewakMandal, and Mr. Kirit Jasani, Principal,SEDI.

...and Surat follows


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STUDENT ACTIVITIES/AWARENESS CAMPS

AWARENESS CAMP

With a view to mo-bilise students

for self-employment,the Khadi Gram Udyogorganised an aware-ness camp, ‘GramUdyog Jagriti Shivir’, at ATDC-Indore on March 22. The objective of the camp was to make ATDC students

aware about various government-aided schemes availablefor self-employment purposes.The camp was organised by Dinesh Srivas, Principal, T.S.

Gokhale Khadi Gram Udyog Training & Research Institute, andchaired by Prabhat Khare, Deputy Director, Khadi & Village In-dustries Board (KVIB) and D.C. Rathi, Deputy Director, SwamiVivekanand Career Guidance Scheme, Women’s Polytechnic.

CM AWARDS OFFER LETTERSShri Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief Min-ister of Odisha, distributed offer letters to90 SMART trainees who successfullycompleted their training at the ATDCSkill Camp in Gunupur, Odisha.These candidates were sponsored by

the Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment, Govt. of Odisha. Afterawarding the offer letters, Shri Patnaiklauded ATDC’s significant contributionin empowering youth and women for theapparel sector.

THINK GREENHave you ever dreamt of Mother Natureresting in your living room? Well, second-semester students of the Apparel Manu-facturing Technology (AMT) atATDC-Bhubaneswar turned this difficult-

yet-magnificent task into a reality at a re-cent event. The nature-inspired students de-

signed a range of home furnishingsproducts like cushion covers, table cloths,table runners and aprons, in themes likeThink Green, Terracotta, Layers of Life,Chocolate Cheer and Hawaiian Holiday.The theme that grabbed the highestpoints for creativity and construction wasThink Green, followed by Terracotta.

SURFACE ORNAMENT TRAINING ATDC-Bhubaneswar recently conducteda one-month training for 20 ScheduledTribe candidates in the SMART SurfaceOrnamentation course. The studentsachieved a commendable feat and created a variety of bags in a short spanof time.

WORKSHOP FOR NIFT STUDENTSATDC-Bhubaneswar conducted a three-day workshop on Modern ConstructionTechniques for students of Textile Designand Development (TDD) course at NIFT,Bhubaneswar. Mr. L. Das Ghosh, Princi-pal, ATDC-Bhubaneswar, informed thestudents about garment parts and fash-ion stitching techniques.

SUDA SPONSORS 1,500 STUDENTSHailing ATDC as the major skills trainingpartner in Odisha, the State Urban Devel-opment Agency (SUDA) has sanctionedsponsorship of 1,500 students, in additionto the 5,300 students sponsored earlier.The programmes under the new sanctionwere floated from December 2012. A totalof eight Community Colleges/Centres areoperational in Odisha.

DYEING AND PRINTING WORKSHOP

ATDC-Indore hosted a two-day workshop on Dyeingand Printing Using Natural Dyes, organised by theWeaver’s Service Centre (WSC), Ministry of Textiles, Govt.of India. The workshop, inaugurated by Mr. Rajesh Rajatkarof Attire Shirts, highlighted various designing techniqueson textile products like salwar-kameez, bedsheets, cush-

ions, curtains, sarees, etc. According to Mr. Sunil

Varn Mathur, Dy. Director,WSC, the purpose of theworkshop was to maximisethe scope of dyeing andprinting in the industry,which, in turn, will increaseemployment opportunities.

In its endeavour to enhance the employability of youth and women in Odisha, ATDC-Bhubaneswar organised a range of activities across the state

Odisha getson to ATDCskill train

TRAINING AND MOBILISATION AT ATDC-INDORE


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Continuing with its mandate of help-ing the youth to make informed

choices about training programmes andjob opportunities in the apparel sector,ATDC-Chhindwara participated in aRozgar Mela on March 30. The ATDC stall garnered maximum

attention at the mela as SMART studentspresented live demonstrations of their

skill on high-tech industrial machines.With the help of K-yan tool, visitors

were shown how different kinds of ma-chinery is used in the garment industry.ATDC faculty provided the candidateswith the details of ATDC-SMART coursesand Community Colleges and gave in-formation on the upcoming pro-grammes at ATDC-Chhindwara.

ATDC-Jaipur shines at career fair

ATDC-Chhindwara participates in Rozgar Mela

ATDC-SMART courses speak forthemselves. That is precisely the rea-son why ATDC trainees are handpickedby companies even before their trainingis over. Mr. Sanjay Tandon, Director, Shahi

Exports, Faridabad, visited the ATDC-Chhindwara campus to recruit studentsenrolled in Sewing Machine Operator(SMO) course for their new unit atChhindwara. Earlier, Mr. Chandrasekhar, GM,

Shahi Exports, Chhindwara, conductedcampus interviews at ATDC-Chhind-wara and recruited ATDC students forthe position of Sewing Machine Opera-tors. More than 90 percent of SMOs atShahi Exports, Chhindwara, are fromATDC-Chhindwara.

“Apart from SMOs, we would also recruit checkers, machine mechanics,supervisors, auditors and junior mer-chandisers in the coming months fromhere,” said Mr. Tandon.

PLACEMENTS/SMART ROZGAR INITIATIVES

With an aim to make unem-ployed youth and dropoutsaware about the vocational

training programmes and job opportu-nities in the apparel sector, ATDC-Jaipurparticipated in a career fair, organisedby the Department of Science and Tech-nology, Govt. of Rajasthan, at Nawal-garh, Jhunjhunu district, from February28-March 2. Candidates approaching the ATDC

stall were provided with the details ofATDC short-term & long-term coursesand ATDC skill-training initiatives across

18 locations in the state of Rajasthan.Hon’ble Governor of Gujarat Smt.

Kamla Beniwal visited the ATDC stalland hailed ATDC’s training initiativesthat provide necessary skills and job op-portunities to rural youth/dropouts.

Campus placements atATDC-Okhla A total of nine students received jobletters through campus interviewsat ATDC-Okhla on March 19.

Leading export house M/S Para-mount Products Pvt. Ltd. visited thecampus and interviewed 33 candi-dates from the Advance ApparelManufacturing Technology (AAMT),Apparel Manufacturing Technology(AMT) and Production Supervisionand Quality Control (PSQC) courses.

Nine candidates were selectedfor the positions of Industrial Engi-neers and Quality Checkers.

Huge demand for SMART traineesAfter successfully completing training at the ATDC-SMART SkillCamps at Sultanpur and Pratap-garh, Uttar Pradesh, ATDC students were handpicked up byKaran Latex and Kartikeye Interna-tional for various positions. Out ofthe 100 students who appeared for interviews, 20 were recruited asQuality Checkers while 30 weregiven job offers for the position ofSewing Machine Operators.

Jobs for Sultanpur, Pratapgarh students


While throwing light on thecurrent apparel scenario inIndia, Dr. Darlie O. Koshytalks about how the ATDC network has turned a new leaf in its journey in ‘Skilling India,’ by transforming the ‘Skill Mission’ into a movement.

DR. DARLIE O. KOSHY,

DG & CEO, ATDC & IAM

The road less travelled…IN SUMMARY

Contact:Apparel Training & DesignCentre, National Head OfficeParidhan Vikas Bhawan, Plot-No. 50, InstitutionalArea, Sector-44, Gurgaon-122003Phone: 0124-4659500/01 Website: www.atdcindia.co.in

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Leading economists opine that every less developedcountry in the world has passed or passes through a“T-shirt” manufacturing phase in the process of evo-lution from an Agrarian to Industrial economy. India’sorganised garment export industry also entered thescene in early 70s, much like the other under-devel-oped economies in the world, while transforming her-self as a “developing economy” since 1991.

With the withering away of quotas, Apparel exportshave grown to be a US$14 billion industry post-2005,though it has not kept pace owing to a variety of rea-sons. The domestic branded retail fashion industry hasleapfrogged to be more or less equal to the size ofIndia’s Apparel exports post-economic liberalisation.Both exports and domestic Apparel sectors requirestate-of-the-art manufacturing facilities.

Richard Locke, Deputy Dean of MIT’s Sloan School ofManagement, argues that our insatiable hunger forcheap clothing in constantly changing styles has cre-ated a race to the bottom in which brands perpetuallypush suppliers for “faster delivery” and “lowerprices”. He argues that the consumer needs to breakthat cycle by, well, buying less of the cheap, fast fash-ion in the stores. This, unfortunately, is not really goingto happen as we all know. But as an exporting country,what India needs to do in this context is to move up inthe fashion value chain. For this, Indian Apparel ex-ports need to gear-up by producing higher value gar-ments with more fashion content, while also makingan effort to move away from just “Summer” goods tomore Fall and Winter, including structured garments,etc. Similarly, we need to have a highly skilled work-force with multi-tasking capabilities and higher pro-ductivity and efficiency levels.

In China, as reported in the International Herald Tribunein January 2013, one of the largest factories in Yantai,a coastal city in Northeastern China, called on the localgovernment with a problem i.e. a shortage of 19,000workers as the deadline for execution of an order ap-proached. The ‘Yantai’ officials came to the rescue, or-dering all vocational high schools to send studentsundergoing training to the plants. This is a lesson forIndia’s vocational training providers and the officialdomto work with urgency in a collaborative mode to fill atleast the peak season requirements of Indian Apparelindustry. The Apparel industry at the moment is facingsimilar acute shortage of labour force.

In any given year, at least eight million vocational stu-dents work on China Assembly Lines, with the mini-mum legal working age now at 16 years. Theconcerned ministry in China has ordered vocationalschools to fill any shortages in the workforce inChina’s manufacturing plants. India has to draw lessons from this example if it has to protect andprogress an industry like Apparel, which creates mas-sive employment for rural folks, especially women andyouth aged between 18 to 45. With every ̀ 1 Cr. invest-ment in plant and machinery, Apparel industry createsover 400 jobs for the most needy sections of society.Unfortunately, the policymakers have not been payingadequate attention to the potential of the Apparel in-dustry in mitigating unemployment and even anti-na-tional movements like Naxalism, etc. in certainpockets of the country.

With ATDC’s proactive efforts in the past three yearsthrough SMART Fast-Track shopfloor workforce trainingprogrammes under the Integrated Skill DevelopmentScheme (ISDS) of the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India,there has been a visible improvement on the ground.In 2010, when ATDC took the ambitious challenge oftraining 1,72,000 candidates in five years, it looked likea daunting task and there were many sceptics around.Now, having successfully trained over 52,000 candi-dates in the two year period of the pilot project of ISDScontributing to over 50 percent of the entire Ministryof Textiles’ target, the ATDC network has turned a newleaf in the journey of “Skilling India” and making the“mission” a movement by the involvement of manyState Governments/Agencies/NGOs and leading polit-ical and other personalities. This has catalysed invest-ments in new apparel manufacturing facilities, apartfrom rejuvenating languishing crafts in which over10,000 women have been trained. If the Apparel indus-try decongests from metros and moves to where theworkforce is available, there will be a huge opportunityto create “Apparel Economy” at work in many parts ofIndia, especially in the existing and new textiles — ap-parel clusters. Going forward, “skilling India” has beenmade that much more quality-focused and achievablethrough the efforts of TEAM ATDC.

Many thanks to all those who have directly or indirectly con-tributed so far and continue to support this exciting andchallenging journey forward. The target of training 2,50,000youths in the next four-five years beckons TEAM ATDC toput even more efforts with dedication and commitment.

Apparel Training Mission through ‘SMART’

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