* The mapping of ATDCpresence with the apparelclusters is only indicative(India map source: dreamstime)

As the new government is keen on giving a

thrust to the Indian apparel industry, ATDC, with a

sizeable pan-India presence, is all set to give a

'skill impetus' by catalysing new clusters for

developing sustainable competitive edge

oVeR 205 ATDCCeNTReS PAN-INDIA MAPPeD wITh‘NATURAL’ APPAReLCLUSTeRS,APPAReL PARKSAND APPAReL-foCUSeD SeZS

NASCeNT APPAReL

CLUSTeRS: BeACoNS of ChANGe

Jaipur

Bangalore

Ludhiana

Kolkata

Tirupur

Chennai

Vishakhapatnam

Kishangarh

Bhubaneshwar

Surat

Mumbai

NagpurRaipur

Bhopal

Indore Chhindwara

Bhagalpur

PatnaImphal

Gurgaon “Ujjesh - The Apparel Cluster,” anATDC-NPC initiative in Gurgaon P5Delhi NCR

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3 I

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11

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01

4

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SHRI SANJAY KUMAR PANDA, IAS, SECRETARY (TEXTILES), MOT, GOI P7

Between The Covers

Chief Patron: Sh. Virender Uppal, 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

As the new government is keen ongiving a thrust to the Indian apparelindustry, ATDC, with a sizeable pan-India presence, is all set to give a'skill impetus' by catalysing new clusters for developing sustainablecompetitive edge

in summary20

l Unswerving dedication

l Bengaluru textile testing lab launched

l Hopes fly high for UP women/Double delight for Chhindwara

l ATDC website gets interactive makeover

l Be part of embroidery revolution

news flags14-18

l Industry visit for ATDC staff/TNSDC officials at ATDC

Dr. Darlie O. Koshy on the need to amalgamate allthe skill development initiatives under a ‘NationalVocational University for textiles-apparel’ to improve the standards of training

l Workshop charts road to entrepreneurship

l Creating grounds for inclusive growth

l Mapping the road to prosperity

l Empowering tribal youth top priority: Minister

l ATDC shines at Indore career fair

l Internship boosts IE training

l Placement highlights ...AND MUCH MORE

l Breaking barriers of distance/Bridging skill gap

l Learn diverse surface ornamentation techniques

l In a league of its own/Reskilling, upskilling...

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: smartnewzine@atdcindia.co.in

Cover Design:IANS Team

CONTRIBUTORS:ATDC FIELD AND STATE-LEVEL TEAMS

Nascent Apparel Clusters:Beacons of Change

in focus04

With the World Bank charting an apparelroadmap and an exclusive apparel clusterbeing announced, Bihar is set to join theskill bandwagon; having trained nearly10,000 candidates so far in the state,ATDC is geared up to help the state industry fill the skill gap

l Fueling Passionl Turning the tide

Bihar set for ATDC ‘skill thrust’

flashlight12

stories to tell19

open dialogue

Over the last 5 years, in a relatively short span of time, ATDC has made rapid and positivestrides under the Integrated Skill Development Scheme (ISDS) of Ministry of Textiles

(MOT), Government of India (GOI) as a Nodal Agency by setting up about 205 Centres on aPan-India basis, and training over 1,27,000 candidates and over 1200 trainers. ATDC has trainedunder long-term programmes 10,000 candidates in the same period. During the period starting from February 2011 till July 2014, ATDC has crossed 102 percentachievement against the target set by the Ministry of Textiles, GOI. Further, there is a target ofcumulatively training 2, 50,000 candidates up to March 2017, which the organisation fullygeared to reach. Apparel Training & Design Centre (ATDC) with its massive scale of operationson pan-India basis, train every month about 5,000 candidates in short-term and long termcourses, prepares trained workforce/personnel needs of Apparel Industry and supports differ-ent segments technical tiers of manufacturing through its vocational courses. Keeping this in view and to achieve the objective of enhancing the Productivity, Efficiency and

Quality of Indian Apparel Industry, ATDC has initiated working with National Productivity Council towards imple-mentation of “Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Scheme”, initiative by the Ministry of MSME to enhance the pro-ductivity and competitiveness of the Micro, Small and Medium enterprises in the Textile-Apparel Industry. Forstrengthening this collaborative initiative, an MOU has been signed between NPC and ATDC on 18th June 2014 fororganising Awareness Seminars and providing liaison and technical support to Apparel Industry in the formation ofMini-Clusters.ATDC is thus becoming the facilitator and 'Sectoral Partner' with NPC for organising ‘Awareness Programmes’ for Ap-parel Manufacturing Units to motivate to participate in the scheme by forming ‘Distinct Product Groups’ (DPG) tobecome authorised ‘clusters’ under ATDC umbrella.ATDC with its 205 Centres on Pan-India basis, covering most of Apparel Clusters in 22 States will work closely withNPC through this joint initiative. ATDC and NPC would be able to develop an ecosystem wherein ATDC with its strongpresence at various Apparel Clusters Pan-India and its skilled manpower resources will be able to help in the forwardmovement of the scheme so that the organizations to gain a sustainable ‘winning edge’. It gives me great pleasure toshare that the first of the mini-clusters named ‘Ujjesh’ is being established with eight Apparel Manufacturing Unitsfrom the Delhi-NCR region. ATDC is working towards facilitating the formation of such mini-clusters across variousApparel Manufacturing zones to enhance the Competitiveness of Indian Apparel value chain.

SHRI VIRENDER UPPAL, CHAIRMAN, AEPC, ATDC & IAM

Shri Santosh Kumar GangwarHon’ble Minister of State for Textiles, Govt of India

The Indian textiles and apparel Industry is the sec-ond largest sector after agriculture in providing

employment in the country. The Ministry of Textilesaims to reinforce Skill and scale in the industry to in-crease production, employment and exports partic-ularly in the apparel sector.

Under the Integrated Skill Development Scheme(ISDS), ATDC has a pan-India presence with 205 self-run training centres running in state-of-the-art infra-structure and faculty resources helping the apparelindustry to find skilled workforce for different tiers ofmanufacturing.

I wish the ATDC and its team the very best in foster-ing partnership with the industry in the area of skilldevelopment and sustainable employment of thetrained youth.

Shri Sanjay K. Panda, IASSecretary (Textiles), Ministry of Textiles, GOI

The Indian economy is on a rapid growth trajec-tory and requires skilled hands at every segment

of manufacturing and services sector. The ApparelIndustry in Textile Sector has enormous potential forgenerating employment opportunities for the youthand women, in particular.

The Ministry of Textiles is implementing a flagshipprogramme of ‘Integrated Skill DevelopmentScheme’ since the year 2010. The Apparel Training& Design Centre (ATDC) has been playing an impor-tant role in creating a quality skilled workforce forthe Apparel Sector under this scheme. During theyear 2013-14, ATDC has trained about 54,000 peoplefor the Apparel Sector.

I wish the entire team of ATDC the very best in theirnoble endeavour.

in focus04

NASCENT APPARELCLUSTERS:

BEACONS OF CHANGEAs the new government is keen on giving a thrust to the Indian apparel

industry, ATDC, with a sizeable pan-India presence, is all set to give a ‘skill impetus’ by catalysing new clusters for developing sustainable competitive edge

in focus 05

“At a time when the industry was facing acute shortage between 2009and 2012, the rapid expansion of ATDC across the country under the ISDSwith state-of-the-art facilities, helped the industry tide over the loomingcrisis of skill shortage.”

— Shri Virender Uppal, Chairman, AEPC, ATDC & IAM

NPC AND ATDC BEGIN ‘MINI-APPAREL CLUSTERS’

At a time when the ever-changing technol-ogy and global conditions are creating a

surge in demand for more technologically ad-vanced workforce for improvement of produc-tivity, quality and overall efficiencies for theapparel industry, ATDC is geared up for a uniqueinitiative.

To achieve objective of enhancing the productiv-ity, efficiency and quality of the apparel industry,ATDC has initiated working with the National Pro-ductivity Council (NPC) in implementing “LeanManufacturing Competitiveness Scheme”(LMCS).

An MoU was signed formally by Shri HarbhajanSingh, DG, NPC and Dr Darlie O. Koshy, DG & CEO,ATDC & IAM in the presence of Shri VirenderUppal, Chairman, AEPC, ATDC & IAM, recently.

A brainchild of the Ministry of Micro, Small andMedium Enterprises (MSME) to enhance the pro-ductivity and competitiveness of the MSMEs inthe apparel industry, NPC has been tasked withimplementing 350 clusters across the country.

The objective of the scheme is to enhance themanufacturing competitiveness of the unitsthrough application of various lean manufactur-ing techniques resulting in waste reduction, in-creased productivity, introduction of innovativepractices, imbibing culture of continuous improvement, etc. for making the units morecompetitive.

“ATDC has sought a collaborative partnership asa ‘Sectoral Partner’ for facilitating with the NPCin identifying key apparel clusters on pan-Indiabasis for taking up the role of bringing together

and create awareness among the units to formmini-clusters and participating in the LMCSscheme,” informs Dr. Darlie Koshy.

In this regard, awareness seminars on the ‘LeanManufacturing Competitiveness Scheme’ wasjointly organised by ATDC and NPC at the ApparelHouse, Gurgaon and ATDC Mumbai recently.

Inaugurating the seminar in Gurgaon, Shri Harb-hajan Singh, DG, NPC, offered a perspective of thelean manufacturing scheme, especially its rele-vance in the context of global competitiveness.

Presiding over the seminar, Shri Uppal said,“Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Schemein various apparel clusters across India indi-cates ATDC’s resolve to foster newer approaches to improve productivity and higherefficiencies of the apparel manufacturing units

through lean management and industrial en-gineering techniques.”

Highlighting the difference between the currentproductivity scenario in India and the world, Dr Koshy said, “Key emphasis on industrial engi-neering, lean manufacturing tools, kanban,kaizen, poka-yoke, etc. is the need of the hour andwill certainly help take the Indian apparel indus-try to newer heights.”

As an outcome of the first seminar, the first of themini-clusters in Delhi/Gurgaon/NCR region isbeing established with eight apparel manufac-turing units.

Named “Ujjesh — The Apparel Cluster”, thecluster is proposed to be formed as an independ-ent Distinct Product Group (DPG) under the su-pervision of ATDC.

ATDC and National Productivity Council have started implementing the ‘Lean ManufacturingCompetitiveness Scheme’ to enhance productivity and competitiveness of the MSMEs. A sneak peak

in focus06

After taking the oath asIndia’s 15th Prime Minister, Shri Naren-dra Modi did not take much time in lay-ing out his Vision Document 2022 with asingle theme “sabka saath, sabka vikas”.

With thrust on knowledge, womenempowerment and youth power, hismessage was loud and clear for all — totransform the country from “Scam India”to “Skill India.”

When we look at the apparel industryin the light of his statement, it becomesobvious that skilling for the burgeoningindustry is going to be on top of theagenda for the new government.

Hear it from the Hon’ble Minister ofState for Ministry of Textiles Santosh Gang-war: “The apparel sector, being the highestemployment provider after agriculture, es-pecially for women and the other weakersection of society, has a much bigger roleand responsibility to play.”

Referring to the recent announce-ments related to the apparel and textilessector, the Minister said that Prime Min-ister Modi attaches huge importance tothis industry.

Addressing the gathering at the IndiaInternational Garment Fair — India’slargest garment show in South Asia — inNew Delhi recently, Minister Gangwarfurther mentioned that the industry hasfound a key importance in the NDA gov-ernment’s first forward looking budget.

The latest announcements like build-ing more clusters to create conducive en-vironments for the apparel growth hassown a new seed of energy among vari-ous stakeholders.

And ATDC, India’s largest skillprovider for the apparel industry, has hitthe right chord right from the word go.

In India, “natural” apparel clusters areconcentrated mainly in major states likeTamil Nadu, Punjab, Karnataka,Delhi/Noida/Gurgaon region, Maha-rashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan andMadhya Pradesh — hubs for various gar-ment manufacturing (see box on page 8).

With more “newly-formed” apparelclusters and Special Economic Zones(SEZs) now being part of the develop-mental plank, there is a huge challengefor ATDC and its various skill initiativesto catalyse clusters for competitive edge.

At the existing “natural” and upcom-ing “nascent” clusters, ATDC has a pan-India presence — offering shop-floor,supervisory and managerial level train-ings/courses within the education andtraining eco-system as well as accord-ing to the need of a particular cluster.

In what could be termed as a futurevision, ATDC, with the National Pro-ductivity Council (NPC), is aiming toset up mini-apparel clusters in thecountry, thus aiding to the new govern-ment’s agenda to bring livelihood di-rectly to the people’s homes. ATDC hasalready initiated working with the NPCin implementing the “Lean Manufac-turing Competitiveness Scheme” of theMinistry of Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises (MSME) to enhance theproductivity and competitiveness ofthe MSMEs in the apparel industry.

The NPC is the government’s Na-tional Monitoring and ImplementingUnit (NMIU) for implementing 350clusters under the scheme across thecountry (see box on page 5).

The industry players have given athumbs up to the ATDC-NPC initiative.

“As a result of these mini-clusters,we will have the opportunity to workwith lean manufacturing consultantswho will hopefully lead us to utilisecertain facilities which we have ig-nored or failed to see so far. If we find

the experiment fruitful, we could evenbear the cost of hiring lean manufac-turing consultants in the future,” ex-plains Mr Sandeep Handa, Director ofGurgaon-based Lilly Fashions Pvt Ltd.and President and Nodal Officer of thenewly-formed cluster.

Clusters can increase productivityand operational efficiency through link-ages, spillovers and synergies acrossfirms and associated institutions,through efficient access to public goods,better coordination and the diffusion ofbest practices.

“The increasing demand for moretechnologically advanced workforcefor improvement of productivity, qual-ity and overall efficiencies for the ap-parel industry is what matters themost for “natural” and “artificial” ap-parel clusters or Special EconomicZones (SEZs),” adds Shri VirenderUppal, Chairman, AEPC, ATDC & IAM.

Before we begin the story of how ap-parel clusters can be a game changer,we also need to know what clusters areand how they have become winds ofchange across the globe (see box onpage 9). Moreover, we also need to de-cipher the role of skilling as more andmore apparel and textiles parks are an-nounced.

WHY SKILLING IS IMPORTANTA NIFT project focusing on the devel-opment of apparel sourcing and man-ufacturing index for India, takes acloser look at what are the parametersrequired to start an apparel industryand how skilling in the area can in-crease productivity.

According to it, the more the ruralpercentage the better it is as it providesfor unskilled labour force required forthe apparel industry and entry of skillproviders (like ATDC) that can betasked with making them ‘employable’

With the ‘mini-cluster’ initiative, there are many opportunities whichwill emerge for the future ATDC students. High-level skills are beingsought by the industry and by training high calibre students, ATDC can extend a very important service for the industry.

— Shri Hari Kapoor, Vice Chairman, ATDC

in focus 07

as per specific needs of a cluster.“The more the female percentage

the better it is as it provides for more re-liable and regular labour force, which isrequired for the Apparel industry,” saysthe NIFT project. According to it, the en-tire work population near a cluster is clas-sified into three main categories — mainworkers, marginal workers and non-workers. The higher the number of ruralwomen in the district, the better it is asthere is more availability of unskilledlabour that can be skilled for specialisedtraining.

Emphasising on the role of women,Dr Darlie O. Koshy, DG & CEO, ATDC &IAM, notes that women provide hugestrengths in the textile-apparel value

chain with an eye for aesthetics and de-tail and keen innate interest in surfaceornamentation or karigari.

“Power of 49” as i.e. 49 percent ofIndia’s population being women can betransformed to significant economicadvantage and social equity if they areempowered and brought to main-stream of work. Apparel manufacturingprovides them such an opportunitymatching with their inherent interests,”explains Dr. Darlie Koshy.

BEING A CATALYSTATDC is present in almost all apparelclusters on pan-India basis. In last four-five years, it has played a key role in ar-resting labour shortage.

More than that, ATDC has been athought leader through many innova-tions in training pedagogy and other fu-turistic practices.

If we look deeper, we find that apartfrom skilling, the other factors that affectcompetitiveness — especially in the de-veloping countries — depends both onmicroeconomic business environment(access to capable suppliers and relatedsupport industries) as well as the macro-economic fundamentals (demand con-ditions, factor conditions and context forfirm strategy and rivalry).

Here, ATDC can work as a catalyst togive apparel manufacturing units a clearcompetitive edge.

“A visible positive impact has been felt

The Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Scheme (LMCS) aims at improving the overallproductivity of MSMEs by reduction of wastes. Lean highlights the removal of waste andextras in terms of space, technology and system related to both manufacturing and selling textile/apparel products. — Shri Harbhajan Singh (IAS), Director General, NPC

‘ATDC’s role significant in the growth of apparel industry’

Face to face: Interview with Shri Sanjay K. Panda, IAS

Even as dark monsoon clouds hovered over themajestic Udyog Bhawan that houses the Min-

istry of Textiles, GOI, in New Delhi, the smiling faceof the Secretary (Textiles) Shri Sanjay Kumar Panda,IAS, brightened up the atmosphere as we begantalking, taking some time out from his packedschedule, the 1980-batch officer from Manipur-Tripura cadre spoke to SMART Newzine on theroadmap that he has prepared to re-engineer thetextiles/apparel industry in the country. Excerpts:

Recent budgetary announcements showthat the government is keen on giving athrust to the textiles and apparel industry.Can you shed some light on the roadmap?

As Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has alreadyoutlined his vision of turning India into a manu-facturing hub of the world, the Ministry of Textilesis taking measures to accelerate the growth ofboth the organised and unorganised sectors ofthe textiles and apparel industry in India.

In the coming days, we will strengthen the link ofthe unorganised handloom sector with tourismon the one hand and provide them with access tofashion technologies and innovative designs sothat they can create niche products for high-endcustomers. Familiarising the tourists with India’srich handloom traditions will drive the growth ofthe sector. We also plan to re-engineer the organ-ised apparel industry to make it globally compet-itive and thus increase productive employment.

What is the role of Vocational Skill Insti-tutes like ATDC you see in the future ofskilling to reap the demographic dividend?

Growth of the apparel industry depends on theproduction of quality products which is possibleonly when they are equipped with skilled humanresources, latest machineries and technologiesand efficient management. I believe that ATDChas a very significant role to play in all these threekey areas as far as apparel industry is concerned.

in focus08

in the apparel export sector, which hasbeen facing acute shortage of workforceduring the past few years and ATDC’srapid expansion helped in meeting skilldeficit to a certain extent,” informs Dr.Darlie Koshy.

It is a fact that when garment manu-facturing units are spatially organised ina cluster, specialised inputs and skills areeasier to access and are cheaper.

But with changing technology andfierce global competition, even the firstlayer of skilling is not sufficient.

“‘Reskilling’ has become essential be-cause of rapid changes in speed/expec-tations and technology. ‘Continuousupskilling’ has become a prerequisite totrain people to achieve higher efficien-cies and competencies. ‘New skilling’ isalso as important as ‘skills of yesterday’are no more valid today or tomorrow,”says Dr. Darlie Koshy. According to him,the new mantra is: “It is not the mostbrilliant who will survive and succeedbut those who can adapt and adapt fastwith changing times”.

GAUGING INDUSTRY’S NEEDSTo take the skilling initiative a notch up,ATDC has also set up 11 Mini-TextileTesting Labs at large apparel clusters,started India’s first-ever Product Spe-cialty (Knitwear) Centre at ATDC Farid-abad and signed an agreement with JukiCorp. in Tokyo to set-up the second In-novation Hub in Bengaluru.

At a time when the industry was fac-ing acute shortage between 2009 and2012, the rapid expansion of ATDC pan-India under the ISDS, with state-of-the-art facilities, helped the industry tideover the looming crisis of skill shortage.

Now with ‘mini clusters,’ ATDC willbring the three-dimensional skill initia-tive ‘RUN’ (reskilling, upskilling and newskilling) right at the doorsteps of the gar-ment manufacturing units.

Agrees Shri R.C. Kesar, Director, OkhlaGarment and Textile Cluster (OGTC), oneof the first to grab the initiative of clusterformation: “Formation of mini-clusterswill improve access to facilities amongthe members. As a collective, the indus-trial units will be able to better functionand share best practices”.

WHERE ‘SKILLING’ MEETS ‘CLUSTERS’During the pilot project period starting

No. Project State Estimated Activity

Employment

1 Lepakshi Integrated Andhra Pradesh 15000 Knitting, Home Textile

Park, Anantpur Textiles/Handlooms

2 Whitegold Integrated Andhra Pradesh 6500 Spinning, Weaving,

Spentex Park, Ranga Reddy Readymade Garmenting

3 Kejriwal Integrated Textile Gujarat 5198 PFY/FDY, Texturising,

Park Pvt Ltd, Surat Weaving, Embroidery

4 Himachal Textiles Park, Himachal Pradesh 12100 Medical & Technical Textile

Una

5 Jammu &Kashmir Integrated J&K 10083 Spinning, Weaving,

Textiles Park, Kathua Processing, Garmenting

6 Gulbarga Textiles Park, Gulbarga Karnataka 10935 Apparel Unit

7 Khed Textile Park, Pune Maharashtra 9250 Garmenting & Converting,

Wider width Weaving

8 Birla Integrated Textile Maharashtra 11935 Weaving, Dyeing &

Park, Amaravati Processing, Carpet making

9 Kagal Industrial Textiles Maharashtra 5000 Spinning, Garmenting,

Technology Park Weaving

10 Sundararao Solanke Maharashtra 3400 Spinning, Weaving units,

Textile Park, Beed Weaving Preparatory

11 Kallappana Awade Textiles Maharashtra 2224 Weaving, Sizing & Warping,

Park, Kolhapur Garmenting, processing

12 Asiatic Cooperative Maharashtra 2500 Weaving, Sizing,

Powerloom Processing,

13 Rajasthan Integrated Rajasthan 91000 Garmenting, machine-

Apparel units City, Bhiwadi

14 Mewar Integrated Textiles Rajasthan 27500 Weaving(Shuttleless &

Airjet& Park, Bhilwara

15 Jaipur Kaleen Park Ltd., DausaRajasthan 88550 Hand Knotting,

16 Himmada Integrated Textiles Rajasthan 15000 Textile Processing

Park, Balotra

17 SLS Textile Park, Bagalur Tamil Nadu 21030 Spinning, Weaving, Sizing

&Wraping, Garmenting

18 Pallavada Technical Textiles Tamil Nadu 26300 Mobiltech, Meditech,

Park Ltd., Chennai Buildtech, Agrotech,

19 Edison Integrated Textiles Tripura 5258 Weaving, Dyeing,

Park, Agartala Garmenting, Embroidery

20 Shri LakshmiCotsyn Ltd., Kanpur U.P. 7000 Polymers, weaving,

Garmenting, Yarn Dying,

21 Hosiery Park, Howrah, West Bengal 12600 Vest/ Briefs, Ready made

(Children wear), Knitting /

Fabric Manufacturers,

APPAREL AND TEXTILE PARKS IN INDIA

MAJOR GARMENT MANUFACTURING CLUSTERS (Source: NIFT Project)

LOCATIONS CATEGORY STRENGTHSDelhi NCR Womenswear (dresses, Value addition work, multiproduct fashion

blouses, skirts) and kidswear destination, product development

Bangalore Menswear (shirts, trousers), lingerie Trousers and Structured products

Kolkata Innerwear and kidswear(knitted) Hosiery, workwear, hand embroidery

Jaipur Ladieswear Handwork, ethnic and traditional techniques

Ludhiana Woollen (value-added) Flat Knit woollen and cotton sweaters

Chennai Menswear and lingerie Shirts

Tirupur All category (knitwear) Integrated nature of knitwear

(*ATDC follows the apparel manufacturing existing/emerging hubs/clusters)

in focus 09

How clusters help productivity Why do we need apparel clusters?

Cluster initiatives can contributeto comprehensive national

competitiveness efforts that in-clude policy reform, trade capacitybuilding, a private-public dia-logue, regional economic develop-ment, workforce development,etc.

At times, they become a catalyst,generating broad public under-standing and support for the eco-nomic reform agenda by workingwith the media, universities andthink tanks, knowledge and tech-nology foundations, industry lead-ers, government officials, etc.

When designed carefully and im-plemented efficiently, cluster ini-tiatives may well be one of themost effective tools in a broadercontext of policy reform and otherprivate sector development initia-tives.

The concept of economy-widecompetitiveness has brought for-ward the relevance of a cluster ap-proach.

Competitiveness is a proxy for theproductivity of an economy anddepends on the value of a nation’sproducts and services, measuredby the prices they command in in-ternational markets and the effi-ciency with which they areproduced.

However, excellence in productiv-ity is not something firms can ac-quire in isolation; they need to

work with surrounding institu-tions and agents whose undertak-ings have large impacts on howfirms operate.

Clusters can contribute to thefoundation of knowledge andhelp stimulate technological inno-vation, as is seen in the IT clustersin Silicon Valley and Bangalore.

They may also spur creative inno-vation, as in the fashion designingclusters or 34 handloom clustersin India.

Clusters can facilitate commercial-ization and new business forma-tion through spinoffs and startups.

One cluster often seeds or en-hances other clusters as it dis-perses activities in the value chainto reduce risk, access cheaper in-puts, or better serve particular re-gional markets.

WHAT ARE CLUSTER INITIATIVES?

Industrial clusters often evolvespontaneously over decades. How-ever, well- designed cluster initia-tives can expedite the process andprovide a much-needed initialplatform on which to grow in out-put and sophistication.

Such initiatives should draw fromand feed into the spillovers influ-encing economic performancewithin and across clusters.

(Source: A World Bank report)

For a layman, an industrial clusteris an agglomeration of compa-

nies, suppliers, service providersand associated institutions in a par-ticular field. Often included are fi-nancial providers, educationalinstitutions and various levels ofgovernment.

Because of their proximity — bygeography and activities — clusterconstituents enjoy the economicbenefits of several location-specificexternalities and synergies.

In a nutshell, clusters are built toachieve three things: Developmentof enterprise networks and busi-ness linkages, skills upgrading andstrengthening support institutions.

Skill deficits are common amongclusters and range from scarce tech-nical competence and low levels ofeducation of the workforce (indus-trial skills), through poor businessmanagement capacities (entrepre-neurial skills) and to weak capabili-ties of the staff of local institutionsand policymakers (governanceskills).

These hamper the capacity of thecluster to learn, innovate and up-grade. Moreover, the benefitsspread beyond the cluster throughits linkages, externalities and syn-ergies.

UNLOCKING PRO-POOR EFFECTS

The challenge for a cluster develop-ment initiative is to gear collective

efficiency gains towards the poorso that they can increase the pro-ductivity of their assets and deploythem to respond to emerging de-mands and market opportunities.

A pro-poor focus means thatgreater attention is given to theright skilling of the marginalisedsections of the society in such a waythat facilitate a fairer distribution ofincome.

This implies, for instance, support-ing the diffusion of appropriatetechnology rather than capital-in-tensive equipment, investing in up-grading the skills, employability ofmarginalised segments such aswomen, youth, migrants and mi-norities and encouraging the pro-duction of goods and servicesaffordable by the poor.

A cluster initiative needs to inte-grate practices and efforts specifi-cally designed to strengthen thosecapabilities that affect the poor’sability to seize economic opportu-nities.

To start with, the adoption of a par-ticipatory approach, openly ori-ented at empowering the poorfringes of the society contributes toreducing their marginalisation andencourages their active participa-tion in the economic life of the clus-ter by improving their self-confidence and social status.

(Source: A United Nations Industrial Development Organisation

(UNIDO) report )

“Formation of mini-clusters will improve access to facilities among members,help them cut down cost and improve efficiency. As a collective, the industrialunits will be able to better function and share best practices”

— Shri R.C. Kesar, Director, Okhla Garment and Textile Cluster (OGTC)

in focus10

Hear it from the professionals

Sandeep Handa, President,Lilly Fashions Pvt Ltd

‘The scheme opens up avenuesfor focused action plans’

ATDC with the National Pro-ductivity Council (NPC) is aim-ing to set up mini-clusters inthe country. Do you like theidea? What role can the indus-try play in this?

I think it is a move in the right di-rection as this initiative will openour eyes to new measures to im-prove efficiency and productivityinternally. As a result of these mini-clusters, we will have the oppor-tunity to work with lean manufac-turing consultants who willhopefully lead us to utilise certainfacilities which we have ignored orfailed to see so far. If we find the ex-periment fruitful, we could evenbear the cost of hiring lean manu-facturing consultants in the future.

Will lean manufacturing tech-niques for the MSMEs in ap-parel sector help the Indianplayers take on the interna-tional market?

Adopting new approaches and tech-nologies may also bring in new

costs. So we will have to see if thesetechniques can help cut down costin the long-run by increasing effi-ciency. However, so far as increasingcompetitiveness in the internationalmarket is concerned, we are depend-ent a lot on external efficiency suchas bureaucratic hurdles, availabilityof raw materials, steady supply oftrained workforce, etc. as well.

So while lean manufacturing tech-niques can help improve the inter-nal efficiency of the MSMEs, thatwill hardly alleviate problems of ex-ternal efficiency.

Delhi NCR is known forwomen’s wear and kids wearmanufacturing. Do you see itentering into other manufac-turing markets?

Delhi/NCR has focused on women’swear and kids wear manufactur-ing as these products need a lot ofvalue addition which are easilyavailable. But entering into men’swear segment may be a distantpossibility as more than value ad-ditions, such product categoriesare dependent more on best-in-class raw materials which are noteasily available here.

With the government an-nouncing more apparel clus-ters in the latest budget, howcrucial is the role of ATDC inproviding trained workforce?

ATDC’s role will be significant inproviding trained workforce to thenascent apparel clusters.

‘ATDC can play the role of a catalyst in boosting productivity’

With the government an-nouncing more apparel clustersin the latest budget, how cru-cial is the role of ATDC in provid-ing trained workforce?

Today, ATDC has emerged as India’slargest vocational training providerfor trained workforce in the apparelindustry. Its role is particularly cru-cial as it provides training in almostall areas — from tailoring to qual-ity checking to packaging. Evenmore importantly, with its vast net-work of training centres and expe-rience in working in rural settingswhere few skill providers ventureinto, ATDC has the edge of providingskilled workforce even in the newclusters that are proposed.

Do you think the initiative ofATDC and NPC to facilitating theformation of mini-clusters inDelhi NCR will boost more man-ufacturing competitiveness?

The apparel market is hugely com-petitive and to survive in this indus-try, one has to be perfect in all areasof production and cut down rejec-

tion level to the minimum. Therefore,in every step, the apparel industryfeels the need of trained workforce.By providing skilled training work-force, ATDC can play the role of a cat-alyst in boosting productivity.

Will lean manufacturing tech-niques for the Micro, Small andMedium Enterprises (MSMEs)give Indian players an edgeover others in the internationalmarket?

The lean manufacturing techniquesat mini clusters will provide a muchneeded platform to share globalknowledge and newer methodsamong various players to leveragethe full potential of the industry toincrease productivity.

Do you think the Delhi/NCR re-gion will go beyond women’swear and kids wear manufac-turing.

Northern India is catching up fast withthe south in men’s wear segment aswell which offers a growth area withpotential.

Vijay Jindal, Director,SPL Industries Ltd

in focus 11

In its effort to skill India’s North-Eastern region further and addwings to the creative minds of theyouth and women, ATDC has ele-

vated its SMART Centre in Manipurinto an ATDC Vocational Institute (AVI).

Manipur Chief Minister Shri OkramIbobi Singh inaugurated the new AVI atDIC Complex, Porompat recently, in thepresence of State Commerce and Indus-tries Minister Shri Govindas Konthou-jam; Shri Virender Uppal, ChairmanAEPC, ATDC & IAM; O. Nabakishore, Ad-ditional Chief Secretary of Manipur; L.Lakher, Principal Secretary (Ind & Com);Shri Hari Kapoor, VC, ATDC, Shri H.K.L.Magu and Dr Darlie O. Koshy, DG & CEO,ATDC & IAM.

Addressing the gathering, the ChiefMinister said with being a vast countryhaving around 500 million unemployedyouths, there is great needs to impart ap-propriate skills to the youth to enablethem get suitable jobs.

“Manipur being home to various eth-nic communities each having own cul-ture and traditional attires, there istremendous scope for growth of fashionindustry in the state. I request ATDC toassist the Government of Manipur in

bringing more apparel manufacturers tothe state,” Shri Singh stated.

He assured all possible assistance forATDC skill development initiatives forthe unemployed youth in the state.

“I am very happy that in a relativelyshort span of one year, the ATDC-SMARTCentre has been elevated to an AVI. Over200 students from ATDC Imphal have al-ready taken jobs in the apparel industryand 60 are pursuing studies or are follow-ing entrepreneurial ambitions,” ShriUppal told the audience.

The Chairman thanked the Govern-

ment of Manipur, especially the StateDepartment of Commerce and Industry,for helping the vocational skill providerin establishing ATDC SMART Centresand the AVI in the state.

“During the pilot project period start-ing from October 2010 till July 2014,ATDC has exceeded its training target bycrossing 1,27,000 candidates trained —achieving 102 percent against the targetset by the Ministry of Textiles. This is a bigachievement in the area of livelihoodgeneration for youth especially girls andwomen,” informed Dr. Darlie O. Koshy.

from October 2010-July 2014, ATDC hasexceeded its target by training 1,27,000candidates — achieving 102 percentagainst proportionated target set by Min-istry of Textiles, GOI, and, in the process,played a key role in arresting labourshortage and converting “demographicbulge” to a “productive dividend”.

ATDC, operating through about 205Centres in 18 states, has proved to be a‘help centre’ for garment manufactur-ing units across India, by providing in-dustry-ready workforce through 29trade courses offering vocational train-ing to 5th standard drop outs to 12thstandard pass outs and more.

ATDC Centres have been set up inalmost all Indian apparel clusters.

Take the example of the Tirupurcluster. Once, it was severely affected by

the insufficiency of the trained andskilled workforce. Several technicalsupport institutions existed in the clus-ter but had no interaction with the in-dustry and could not match the skillneeds of the cluster.

When ATDC entered the area, itbegan a skilling movement that helpedthe industry get the required workforcetrained in industrial sewing and tailor-ing, linking, cutting and pattern mak-ing, designing and merchandising andoverall supervisory skills. It formulatedtraining programmes that became pro-gressively tuned to the needs of the in-dustry and bridged the demand-supplygap. The story is same for nearly 140“natural and nascent clusters” span-ning across the country where ATDChas a strong presence.

“Clusters have been used effectivelyfor focused change management inmany parts of the world. ‘Design forDistrict’ initiative in Italy led to innova-tion being absorbed by clusters. InIndia, handlooms clusters are linkingsupply-chain and design interventions.In the case of apparel clusters, it canlead to pre-competitive cooperationamong units and bring about transfor-mation in productivity and efficiencyapart from long-term competitive-ness,” says Dr. Darlie Koshy.

As the new government plans to pushthe apparel industry via various initia-tives, ATDC is ready to take on the skillingchallenge and fulfill the Prime MinisterShri Narendra Modi’s skill dream.

To say the least, the good days arehere for the apparel industry.

NEW CHAPTER

ATDC to boost ‘employability’ for Manipur youth

flashlight12

When we look at Bihar — the12th largest state in terms of geographi-cal size and third largest by population— the first thought that flashes throughmind is a vibrant past, a robust presentand a promising future across the spec-trum.When we look at the apparel and tex-

tiles industry here, we notice that despitea rich tradition and culture, an abun-dance of raw material coupled with mas-sive workforce, the state is yet to see theapparel boom. Although Bhagalpur — aleader in the production of tassar silk —has the great potential for the silk indus-try and in Gaya, a handloom industrycan be witnessed, what is missing is thespark to enter the big league of otherstate apparel players.

After seeing the raw human workforcethat can be skilled and made ready whenthe need arises, ATDC entered the statein 2009.So far, it has trained nearly 10,000 can-

didates from the margings of the society;over 6,000 of them have been placed invarious garment manufacturing unitsacross the country and abroad.The decision to skill Bihar five years

back was waiting for an apparel thrustthat appears to be happening, finally.According to the Union Budget 2014,

Bhagalpur will be among six new citiesto have an apparel cluster.Also, in its latest move, the state gov-

ernment has tied up with World Bank tolook at opportunities in the state’s ap-parel sector, untapped till now. The World Bank team — that also vis-

ited ATDC Patna Centre to get a first-hand experience of how the skilling isbeing done — will prepare the initial re-port in two months’ time. This wouldfocus on the opportunities — the poten-tialities and the road ahead for the sector.

Enter ATDCATDC, with its wide network in Bihar (seebox), is ready to meet the industry’s de-mand of skilled workforce.

With the World Bank chart-

ing an apparel roadmap and

an exclusive apparel cluster

being announced, Bihar

is set to join the skill

bandwagon; having trained

nearly 10,000 candidates so

far in the state, ATDC is

geared up to help the state

industry fill the skill gap

Bihar set forATDC ‘skill thrust’

Students at ATDC-SMART Bhawanwhich is now ready with world-classmachinery and facilities in PatliputraIndustrial Area, Patna.

flashlight 13

The skill provider is already workingas a training partner for the Skill Devel-opment Mission of Industries Depart-ment, Government of Bihar. The state government has projected

to sponsor 50,000 candidates for nextfive year. To begin with, the state depart-ment has sponsored 6,000 candidates forfinancial year 2014-15 to be trainedunder the ATDC-SMART Project at 11districts in the state.ATDC also have collaborative part-

nerships with National Scheduled CastesFinance and Development Corporation(NSFDC) New Delhi, National BackwardClasses Finance and Development Cor-poration (NBCFDC) and Nehru YuvaKendra Sangathan (NYKS) in the state. “ATDC Patna is doing a great job by

skilling the scheduled caste (SC) com-munity in Bihar. They are providing goodquality training and placement support,”says A.K. Chaudhary, Secretary, BiharState Schedule Caste Development Cor-poration.What’s more: The industry also appre-

ciates what ATDC has been doing in thestate. “I have been associated with ATDCfor the past four years. Its skill pro-grammes designed specially for youthand women have helped them prosper,”says Pradeep Tekriwal, an LMC convenerand owner of Puneet Garments Pvt Ltd— a leading retail chain for kids andladies wear in the state. ATDC is jointly working with the state

Industries Department and World Bankto study the scope and constraints forgarmenting in Bihar. Recently, a World Bank team compris-

ing Bertine Kamphius, a private sector

development specialist and YannickSaleman, a competitive industries globalpractice specialist visited ATDC PatnaCampus. David Birnbaum, MD, ThirdHorizon Ltd, Thailand accompanied theWorld Bank team.Impressed by the state-of-the-art ma-

chines and infrastructure, standardisedcurricula and trained faculty resources,the team appreciated the efforts of ATDC.They also learned about ATDC’s pan-India presence through its 205 Centresincluding 65 ATDC Vocational Institutesand three TOT Academies.The onus is now on the state govern-

ment to understand the ever-changingtechnology and global conditions tocreate a surge in demand for more tech-nologically advanced workforce for im-proving productivity, quality and overallefficiencies for the apparel industry. “The state government needs to de-

velop an industry-friendly environmentfor the apparel and textiles industry togrow further in Bihar. Infrastructure re-lated to electricity, land availability, tex-tile parks and business environment arewhat the manufacturing players need

the most,” says Tekriwal. For H.S. Shukla,Zonal Director, Nehru Yuva Kendra(Bihar), NYKS will soon impart vocationaltraining in coordination with ATDC in all37 districts of Bihar. “We are looking toimpart skill training among other mar-ginalised sections of the society living inthe deeper pockets,” he asserts.

Brimming with hopeTill date, ATDC in Bihar has provided jobassistance to over 6,000 candidate whoare working in apparel hubs like Gur-gaon, Tirupur, Chennai and Bengaluruand abroad in Qatar and Bahrain. The apparel and textile scenario in

Bihar is set for a major boost with ATDC-SMART Bhawan which is now ready withworld-class machinery and facilities inPatliputra Industrial Area, Patna. Other than skilling, ATDC Bihar is in-

volved in varied activities. It organisedfirst ATDC-Rozgar Mela at ATDC-SMARTCentres in Patna, Gaya and Hazipur re-cently. Nearly 629 candidates receivedplacement during the two-day job fair.For its good performance in the field

of skill development, ATDC Patna wasselected by the state government amongnine state departments to represent“Skilling Bihar” at the India InternationalTrade Fair in New Delhi and the ATDChub is also to promote traditional art andcraft of Bihar.ATDC believes that its efforts, along

with the support from the state govern-ment and industry partners, will worktowards filling the skill gap — thus es-tablishing Bihar as a major hub of the In-dian apparel industry in the globalcompetitive age.

ATDC presence in Bihar

Upcoming ‘Skill Camps’

Patna, Gaya, Sasaram, Muzaffarpur,Chhapra, Motihari, Madhubani, Saharsa, Vaishali, Rajgir, Siwan,Jhanjarpur

Jehanabad, Khagaria, Rohtas, Bhagalpur, Darbhanga and Purnia

ATDC Patna is doing a great job byskilling people belonging to scheduledcaste (SC) community to make them“employable”.

—A.K. Chaudhary, Secretary, Bihar State Schedule Caste Development Corporation

The state government needs to first develop an industry-friendly environ-ment for the apparel and textiles indus-try to grow in Bihar.

— Pradeep Tekriwal, LMC Convener and Owner, Puneet Garments Pvt Ltd

NYKS has rural youth clubs that coversmarginalised sections of the society inthe state who are being brought underthe ATDC skill umbrella.

— H.S. Shukla, Zonal Director, Nehru Yuva Kendra (Bihar)

Known for implementing out-of-boxideas throughout her career, Ms.

Zohra Chatterji recently retired as Sec-retary, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. ofIndia. When we look at her association with

ATDC, it has been a fruitful journey. Beit the inauguration of “ATDCSkill Conclave” in July 2013,the launch of ATDC- SMARTBhawan and the KnitwearSpeciality Centre in Farid-abad in September 2013, ormore recently the hostel fa-cilities at ATDC ChhindwaraIntegrated Campus in Aprilthis year, Ms. Chatterji’spresence and her valuableinputs have been a constantsource of support for theATDC and the apparel industry at large.Before accepting the challenge of

turning around the fortunes of India’sexport-oriented apparel and textile in-dustry in the face of a global economicslowdown in February 2013, Ms. Chat-

terji served in various government de-partments in Uttar Pradesh and in theCentral Government.The achievements of Ministry of Tex-

tiles during her stint may go down inhistory as a source of inspiration formany to follow. In global textiles ex-

ports, India ranked sec-ond, next only to China,beating its competitorslike Italy, Germany andBangladesh, as per therecent data released by‘UN Comtrade’ in globaltextiles as well as apparelexports. India’s share inglobal textiles increasedby 17.5 percent in theyear 2013 compared tothe previous year. Ms.

Chatterji always encouraged ATDC in itsmission to “Imparting Skills, ImprovingLives”.On her retirement, ATDC honours

Ms. Chatterji’s innovative spirit and herunswerving dedication to excellence.

Unswerving dedication

ATDC website gets a timely “makeover”

news flags14

With the aim of reaching out andcommunicate online in real time

its expansive training relatednational/local activities, ATDC has givenits website an interactive makeover.Former Secretary (Textile), MOT, GOI

launched the redesigned website(www.atdcindia.co.in) at the third con-vocation function of the Institute of Ap-parel Management recently. Besidesinteractive social media tools, the newbilingual website offers all its prospectiveand current candidates a platform todownload forms and navigate the ATDCnetwork across the country via maps.The website clearly depicts in much

detail the training programmes and sup-

port activities such as placements/spon-sorships/ corporate social responsibilityalong with major news and events related

to the apparel sector. The upgraded webportal seamlessly integrates technologiessuch as cloud computing, content man-agement system for easy, fast, and fre-quent flexible updates, mirror servers foreasy, reliable access even in remote ruralhinterlands and special algorithms foroptimal server performance.ATDC also plans to include vernacu-

lar stories and integrate the websitewith a payment gateway so that all fi-nancial transactions can be done on-line, and introduce chat sessions forstudents with industry leaders, seniorfaculty members and host download-able apps for mobile phones/tablets onthe web portal.

BIDDING ADIEU AWARENESS PROGRAMMES

INAUGURATION

ATDC hails Ms. Zohra Chatterji for her innovative spiritand unswerving dedication for the apparel industry

BE PART OF EMBROIDERYREVOLUTION

In a move to provide its studentswith a first-hand experience on

how apparel manufacturing unitsfunction, ATDC Ranchi organised atrip to ‘Fashion Art,’ an embroiderycompany for its third and fourth se-mester students of apparel manufac-turing and fashion design course.Using multihead embroidery ma-chines that support the embroiderysoftware WILCOM, Fashion Artmostly produces neckline designs,jaal work, bedsheets, booti designsand daman work.

The exposure to state-of-the-artembroidery machines, actual pro-duction flow in a large setting and aprofessional work environment wasenriching for students.

Apart from creating a soundecosystem for labour-intensive apparel sector, ATDC has estab-lished Textile-Apparel Testing labs at 11 select ATDC VocationalInstitutes to impart training on various testing & quality aspects ofapparels. such as fabric's strength,colour durability, thickness, GSMbalance (weight for hosiery prod-

ucts), bursting test for knit products, crock meter test, etc. In this direction,the textile testing laboratory at ATDC Bengaluru was launched recently byMr. Sumir Hinduja, Director, Gokaldas Images Pvt. Ltd.

news flags 15

INAUGURATION

In what could give an impetus totalented youth from far-flungareas a chance to live and study atthe same place, Former Secretary,

Ministry of Textiles, Govt of India re-cently inaugurated hostel blocks forboys and girls at ATDC Chhindwara In-tegrated Campus in Madhya Pradesh. Spread over an area of 10,000 sq. ft.,

the hostels currently have the capacityto provide accommodation for 21 boysand 21 girls at a time. “The two hostels will be a boon and

help the trainees from distant areas ofChhindwara to get shelter while seek-ing training at ATDC,” noted Shri Viren-der Uppal, Chairman, AEPC, ATDC &IAM. According to Shri Hari Kapoor, Vice

Chairman, ATDC the new hostel facil-ities would help youth and women gainaccess the world-class facilities with

ease and connect with the mainstream.Dr Darlie O. Koshy, DG & CEO,

ATDC & IAM, informed that more than3,000 candidates have already beentrained under SMART project at differ-ent locations of Chhindwara and apilot project on Product Speciality(shirt manufacturing) training coursewas recently introduced at ATDCChhindwara.

Breaking barriers of distance

Expanding the horizon of opportuni-ties for women from the margins,

the newly set up ATDC-SMART SkillCamp at Hathras recently rolled outSewing Machine Operator (Basic)courses for two batches consisting of 40girls each. From bio-metric attendancesystem to advanced training machiner-ies, the ATDC Skill Camp is equipped toensure quality training for women andopen ‘employability” gateway for them.

With two new ATDC-SMART SkillCamps attached to ATDC

Chhindwara Integrated Campus — oneat Pandhurana and the other at Badchi-choli — the skilling wheel of ATDC hasreached in deep pockets in MadhyaPradesh, making access to job-orientedtraining available to a wider section ofthe population. Noted for their immensecontribution to opening up doors for theunemployed youth to the flourishing jobmarket in the apparel sector, the ATDC-SMART Skill Camps have always re-ceived overwhelming response fromlocal youth. Training at both the SkillCamps has already begun.

HOPES FLY HIGH FORWOMEN IN UTTAR PRADESH

DOUBLE DELIGHT FOR MADHYA PRADESH

BENGALURU TEXTILE TESTING LAB LAUNCHED

To bring more people under theskill net, encourage them to jointhe industry and boost self-em-

ployment, West Bengal Swarojgar Cor-poration Limited (WBSCL) sponsoredcandidates for Sewing Machine Oper-ator (SOB) course at ATDC Kolkata.Training for the first batch of SOB

course was recently inaugurated atATDC Kolkata in the presence of MrAsok Kumar Das, Managing Director,WBSCL; Mr. Anil Buchasia, ChairmanLMC ATDC, West Bengal & North-East

and Mr Arindam Datta, Deputy Gen-eral Manager, WBSCL among others. The WBSCL sponsored cumula-

tively 400 candidates and the trainingis going on in batches of 25 candidateseach.

Bridging skill gap

news flags16

CERTIFICATE DISTRIBUTION

TRAINING OF TRAINERS

IN A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN

In recognition of its tireless effortsin skilling people from all sectionsof the society for the apparel indus-try, the Associated Chambers ofCommerce and Industry of India(ASSOCHAM) has awarded ATDCRanchi with the prestigious “Educa-tional Excellence Award 2014.”

ATDC Ranchi was honoured forits “efforts to ensure quality skill de-velopment”, ASSOCHAM, India’sapex industry body mentioned inthe certificate given to ATDC.

“For ATDC, accolades are likestepping stones to firm up its skilldevelopment efforts,” an elatedATDC team mentioned in a state-ment.

“Another award in its journey fur-ther instills more confidence to pur-sue the ATDC’s skill mission withnew vigour and take it to newerheights by continuing to ‘ImpartingSkills, Improving Lives!” says Dr.Darlie O. Koshy.

To empower the youthfrom rural areas of the

state and fully leverage thenetwork of skill training cen-tres of ATDC, Tamil NaduSkill Development Corpora-tion (TNSDC) sponsored7,200 candidates — 600 ineach ATDC Skill Camp in 12

state districts. A team headedby Shri R. Natarajan, ProjectDirector, TNSDC, visitedATDC Skill Camps atKancheepuram, Thiruvallurand Vellore recently. Natara-jan interacted with the stu-dents and distributedcertificates.

Workshop charts road to entrepreneurship

To steer the potential en-trepreneurs enrolled in

ATDC courses on the rightpath, ATDC Faridabad re-cently organised a workshopon entrepreneurship by theNational Small IndustriesCorporation (NSIC).Conducted by Mr. Rishi Bha-

tia and Ms. Reena Chauhan,the NSIC workshop high-lighted the opportunities forentrepreneurs in the apparelsector and how the ATDCcandidates can benefit fromthe provisions of NSIC suchas financial support and mar-keting assistance.

TNSDC officials encourage ATDC students

With the aim of familiarisingATDC faculty members fromKerala and Tamil Nadu region

with the practical aspects of India’s di-verse surface ornamentation traditions,ATDC-SMART TOT Academy, Thiru-vananthapuram recently organised atraining programme on surface orna-mentation techniques.The mirror work of Rajasthan to kutch

work of Gujarat, from kantha work ofWest Bengal to kasuti work of Karnatakaoffered fresh perspectives on the coun-try’s rich surface ornamentation tradi-tions. Twenty-five ATDC faculty

members — including four from the in-dustry — participated.The training programme was also live

streamed at the Hyderabad and Kar-nataka ATDC Centres and TOT Academyin Gurgaon.

Learn diverse surface ornamentationtechniques, the ATDC way

Skilling is relevant but with changingtimes, in the words of Dr Darlie O.

Koshy, the need of the hour is to focus on“upskilling” and “reskilling.” With thisclear mindset, ATDC Bhubaneswar re-cently organised an intensive sewingmachine training programme for its fac-ulty members. The four-day training pro-gramme touched upon the issues ofspeed, accuracy and quality on SNLS andspecialised machineries.

Industry visit for ATDC staff

RESKILLING, UPSKILLING...

AWARD

To synchronise academic teaching in tune with the requirement of the apparel industry and betterprepare the workforce, facultymembers of ATDC Jaipur recentlyvisited Jaipur Integrated TexcraftPark to gainfirst-handexperienceof spe-cialisedwork.

The fac-ulty mem-bers paid special attention toprinting/dyeing/ hand block/screenblock used by different manufactur-ing units working in the Texcraftpark. Out of the 35 units, 9 printingunits are currently functioning at thetextile park.

VISITS / SEMINARS

Confidence in the eyes, smiles onthe faces and excitement in thehearts were on for everyone to

see as students of Garment Construc-tion Technique (GCT) course at ATDCKanpur attended the valedictory func-tion and placement day recently.While they listened attentively to Dr

Shankar Singh, DGM, Power FinanceCorporation (PFC) Ltd. who came allthe way from New Delhi to offer freshinsights into methods of personalitydevelopment, many utilised the eventto showcase their creativity as they par-ticipated in an exhibition.For many students, however, the day

marked a new chapter in their life.

A total of 75 candidates were short-listed by Mr Sumit from ICON Designs,Unnao and Shri Upendra Singh fromEquiplus India Ltd who visited theATDC facility during the placementday. They appreciated the efforts of theATDC faculty members in providingskill training to the candidates in theglobal competitive era.NBCFDC & PFC have also spon-

sored hostel facility to students whocome travel from distant places to theCentre. Currently, 50 candidates areavailing the facility at ATDC Kanpur.Dr Singh was also recently at ATDC

Faridabad to teach students on variousaspects of personality development.

news flags 17

Creating grounds for inclusive growth

The government is committed to theeconomic development of the

youth, particularly tribal youth, by im-parting them vocational training in theapparel sector, said Union Tribal AffairsMinister Jual Oram during his recentvisit to ATDC Bhubaneswar in Odisha.“The Centre is imparting vocational

training and enhancing capacity build-ing that can help the youth in rural andurban areas improve their socio-eco-nomic life,” the Minister added. Duringthe visit, the Minister also interactedwith students undergoing skills trainingin apparel manufacturing and fashiondesign at ATDC Bhubaneswar.

Empowering tribal youthtop priority: Minister

ATDC Dilshad Garden participated ata career counselling workshop for

the youth organised jointly by ATDC andNehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) atAlipur in New Delhi recently. The work-shop mapped the career opportunitiesavailable for the youth in the apparel in-dustry. The ATDC faculty highlighted theareas in which the youth can take partand contribute to the further growth ofthe apparel industry, enriching their ownlives in the process. They also informedyouth about various diploma, certificateand short-term courses at ATDC.

Mapping the road to prosperity

In order to instill labour compli-ance, face new challenges andlearn newer technologies for thoseworking in the apparel industry,ATDC Surat organised a seminar titled“Mental Fitness for Work” recently.Mr Chetan Joshi, general man-

ager (personal & administration)from Mafatlal Industries Ltd. offeredinsights into the nuances of mould-ing the mind into accepting chal-lenges of work. He noted that workers

would stress their mind less and gainmore if they make proper planning,follow safety standards and find themost efficient way to finish a job in-stead of hunting for a “short cut”.

Join stress-free floor!

news flags18

PLACEMENTS

In order to create awareness about thecourses offered by ATDC VocationalInstitute (AVI), ATDC participated in

a two-day career fair organised by theGovernment Girls Degree College Indorein Madhya pradesh.For over 3,000 students from Indore

who participated at the event, ATDCstall served as an window to look intothe sea of opportunities that the ap-parel industry offers to the skilled pro-fessionals.The stall also imparted information

about various ATDC programmes.

ATDC shines at Indore career fairATDC Jaipur arranged internship

programmes for its industrial en-gineering candidates sponsored byNBCFDC (National BackwardClasses Finance and DevelopmentCorporation)/PFC (Power FinanceCorporation) New Delhi. A total of 22candidates were placed at AhujaOverseas, India Today Fashion andGoodwill Impex for the internship pro-grammes that familiarise them to theworkings of sampling room, cuttingsection, sewing section and finishingand packing section. The studentsalso earned certificates from their re-spective organisations for successfulcompletion of the programmes.

Internship boosts IE training

Placement Highlightsl For the students sponsored byGovernment of Delhi throughDelhi Scheduled Castes Financeand Development Corporation Ltd(DSFDC), ATDC organised a cam-pus placement at its Rohini centreon June 24. India’s leading onlinefashion brand M/s Myntra.com se-lected 22 out of 70 candidateswho completed Production Super-visor & Quality Control (PSQC)course from the Centre. The can-didates were offered a take-homesalary of Rs. 9,000 per month be-sides other allowances and med-ical insurance benefits.

l Richa Global Pvt. Ltd., Gurgaon se-lected nine candidates in an inter-view conducted for SMART checkersfrom Mewat Skill camp on May 29.

l Campus placement has been pro-vided to Arunachal Pradesh &Jammu & Kashmir candidates ofATDC Gurgaon centre by inviting 4companies from Gurgaon -PearlGlobal, Neetee Clothing, Chelseamills and Myntra.com. All femalecandidates from ArunachalPradesh completed their garmentConstruction Technology (GCT)and Production Supervisor & Qual-ity Control (PSQC) course and gotplacement in Neetee Clothing Pvt.Ltd. Gurgaon with accommodationand transport facilities. The Gar-

ment Construction Course, candi-dates from Jammu & Kashmir gotplacement offers from Myntra.comand Pearl Global at Gurgaon.

l 22 female candidates from ATDCImphal received offers to join Nee-tee Clothing in Gurgaon from July6. Besides bearing transport ex-penses, the firm offered accommo-dation and transportation facilities.

l One candidate ‘Salman’ from ATDCRohini centre got placement at afirm in Bahrain at ‘Hunar se Rojgar;mela at ATDC Gurgaon on April 21-22. Salman joined the company as

a Quality Controller on June 23.l Neetee Clothing, Gurgaon partici-pated at a placement event atATDC Bhubaneshwar and selected40 ATDC-SMART operators.

lM/s. Pearl Global, Gurgaon visitedATDC SMART Skill camp at HaliMandi (45 km. away from Gur-gaon). They selected all the 65 can-didates that they interviewed to beplaced as Operators.

lM/s Orient Fashion Pvt. Ltd. Gur-gaon has provided bus facility totrainees selected at ATDC-DwarkaSkill Camp.

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STORIES TO TELL: FASHIONPRENEUR

Many people waste a lot of timeand energy to find out whatthey want to be. But Pooja

Sanga from Bengaluru knew very earlythat it is in the world of fashion that shecan find meaning of her life. As she joined the Apparel Manufac-

turing Technology (AMT) course atATDC Bengaluru, she knew that herdream of starting her own venture wouldcome true soon.“My days at ATDC-Bengaluru helped

me understand the nitty-gritty of the gar-ment industry. The internship with theindustry helped me gain first-handknowledge and complemented my ex-tensive theoretical class room sessions inthe college,” says Pooja as she recalls howthe faculty members at ATDC stimulatedher creative energy with their compre-hensive guidance on fashion/forecast-ing/production/entrepreneur skills.

Equipped with knowledge on fabrics,pattern making, computer-aided design(CAD), manufacturing and merchandis-ing, Pooja initiated the process of settingup her own boutique soon after com-pleting her course.With just `20,000 as her capital and a

heart full of hope and passion, shelaunched her own label “3six5” in thesummer of 2013. “My training at ATDChelped gain confidence, and taught memany technical things which I am usingeven today in my present business ven-ture,” Pooja adds.

Now, with a design studio of her own,Pooja designs, sources fabrics, makespatterns, gives guidance to her tailor onhow to convert her design into realityand also markets her products.The 22-year-old today supplies nearly

20 made-to-measure (MTM) designerdresses a month as her turnover hasreached `1,00,000 a month. “The mer-chandising subject in my course helpedme market my own designs and gain or-ders,” she explained.She credited the apparel production

and quality classes at ATDC for her un-derstanding of the quality expected ofexported products and also for the finefinishing she executes on her designs.“I think for technical apparel knowl-

edge, ATDC is the best place,” she notes.The dreams have got wings and now

she is ready for another leap.

The cliché expression ‘behind every successful manthere is a women’ has never earned so much flak

as it does today, as women are no longer lagging behind in spinning success stories of their own.

The stories of Binita, Asha and Somi from a poorvillage in Gandhinagar, Gujarat are no different. Theirmodest demeanors had hidden their steely determi-nation and masqueraded their capability to dosomething more than just doing domestic chores for a very long time — until one of them, Asha, enrolled herself for Sewing Operator Basic course offered by ATDC in collaboration with the Skill andEntrepreneurship Development Institutes (SEDI) —

an initiative of Ambuja Cement Foundation.Asha said she joined the course with the hope

that training would help her make more meaningfulcontribution to her family and add to the little in-come her husband earns as an agricultural wage

labourer. But what she did not know then was thather decision to acquire a skill would also inspire others to follow her path. Her neighbour Binita andSomi soon joined her in acquiring the basic skills ofsewing from ATDC.

Both shared the dreams that Asha saw.Soon after completing their courses, all three of

them started working from home initially and thenjoined the industry. Impressed with their punctual-ity and work efficiency during one of their exposurevisits, the owner of Pegasus Industry at Tragad village in Gandhinagar welcomed them to join the factory. “We are thankful to the entire ATDC/SEDIteam for their support and cooperation,” they say.

Another chapter in the history of ATDC successstories closes, waiting for the next one to open!

Now a successful entrepreneur, PoojaSanga recalls how a stintat ATDC helped her givewings to her dreams

Turning the tide

Fuelingpassion

Dr. Darlie O. Koshy discussesthe need to amalgamate allthe skill development initiatives under a ‘NationalVocational University fortextiles-apparel’ to improvethe standards of trainingwhile providing support tothe youth and especiallywomen and the disadvan-taged sections of society inevery part of the country...

DR. DARLIE O. KOSHY,

DG & CEO, ATDC & IAM

‘Skilling India’ for ‘Aspirational India’

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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As we focus in this issue how “natural” and “nascent”apparel clusters are going to change the manufacturingand skillscapes for apparel in the country in days tocome, the time is probably right in looking at ‘SkillingIndia’ in a pragmatic and futuristic perspective.

ATDC, with the National Productivity Council (NPC), is aim-ing to set up mini-apparel clusters in the country, to helpin creating new hyper activity Centres where the unitsnot only will upgrade their productivity and efficiency butalso will eventually pledge to use only skilled, trained andcertified workforce that will be making a new dawn.

India’s skill development policy obviously cannot followthe same route as of China which follows a ‘top down’central command structure.

Here in our country, the vibrant democratic system hasshown that the poorest of the poor could reach highestpositions in the country and we have to keep that inmind while forming “skill development” strategies.Only the rudimentary level skill training being providedcan be a double edged sword which while giving im-mediate employability may reduce the scope of ‘humancalibre’ to the lowest denominator, if there is no ‘op-portunity’ for further training as a built-in system. Theskill development efforts across the ministries whichare now revolving around entry-level skill training pro-grammes circumscribed by limited funds need to linkto a system of ‘lifelong’ skills development with a sys-tem of financial support on a recycling and recoupmentbasis for the same.

For instance, in the UK, lifelong skill development oppor-tunities are provided under a calibrated Government as-sisted system. After training, the person most often findsa job in the companies around the neighbourhood whohave the access to the trained personnel’s data base.Once he/she gets the job and after a moratorium period,the training cost is recovered by the Government fromthe individual’s salary in easy installments.

Another significant dimension which has assumed ur-gency is the need for generating employment opportu-nities closer to the habitat as entry skill level trainingcan fetch in most cases only Rs.4,500 to Rs.6,500 levelfor 8-10 hours work. The individual or family cannotdream of living with dignity with such low level emolu-ments with food inflation running at its peak and rentalsfor even a shared room without toilet facility taking away50 percent of the wages. It is, therefore, important toprovide for multi-skilling to the individual to earn an ad-ditional Rs.2,000 to Rs.3,000 so that the person canmove away from their village or habitat to another placeto earn. The new manufacturing policy needs to recog-nize that the production units have to be relocated toother parts of the country which have ‘catchment ofyouth’ areas in order to make “Skilling India” a reality.

Sectoral Skill Councils are today engaged in preparingNOS (National Occupational Standards) which need tobe truly reflecting industry needs and practices on theground and need to work with the Mentor Councils

under DGE&T simultaneously which have also been in-volved in major restructuring and industry-led normsand Curricula development. Both need to follow NSQFas the point of convergence going forward with maxi-mum flexibility for plug and play and lateral/ verticalmobility to the “aspirational youth”. Similarly, theAICTE which has announced SKP (Skill KnowledgeProvider) and UGC (University Grants Commission)which has approved SKP system needs to consider theskill provider as an equal partner in the system formaking the initiative even better and more equitableand inclusive. The initiative like B.Voc Certification hasconsiderable scope to bring the mainstream educationcloser to the vocational education.

On another note, the strategy for skill developmentneeds to focus not only on skill development to becomeskilled technical personnel or skilled workforce but alsoeven a ‘micro- entrepreneur’ providing job to others.

There are numerous ideas generated by students under-going various programmes in the research and the aca-demic institutions viz. TRAs, IITs, NIFT Centres, NID, FDDI,ATDC, IAM and several other institutions associated withfashion, apparel, clothing, etc. which are numerous now.However, there are very few entrepreneurs emerging outof these institutions. The models of incubation in leadingacademic institutions like IIT in Mumbai, IIM in Ahmed-abad, NID in Ahmedabad have all turned out with goodresults with substantial commercialized ventures comingout of such initiatives.

The size of Indian Textile & Apparel Industry is estimatedto be around Rs.2.64 lakh crore out of which Rs.1.64 lakhcrore is consumed within the country. With gen-next’sattention on service sector, a sense of urgency needs tobe brought in to develop new generation entrepreneursto have entrepreneurial ventures especially in textile-apparel value chain.

The recent Vision, Strategy & Action plan document forthe textile-apparel industry projects to add incremen-tally 35 million to the existing workforce by the year2024-25 aiming to achieve $300 billion in exports by2024-25, and increase in production level to US$350 bil-lion in the domestic market. ATDC, India’s largest voca-tional training provider for the apparel sector has beentaking timely steps to bring adequate skills to womenand youth, across apparel clusters.

In the case of textiles and apparel, the new skill devel-opment strategy needs to have an eye on developing notonly ‘professionals’ and skilled professionals and work-force but also micro-entrepreneurs whether it is “de-signpreneurs”, “technopreneurs” or fashion/apparelentrepreneurs.”

It looks to be an idea whose time has come to amalga-mate all the skill development initiatives under a ‘Na-tional Vocational University for textiles-apparel’ toimprove the standards of training while providing supportto the youth and especially women and the disadvan-taged sections of society in every part of the country.