92,000 employed under Samarth scheme for capacity-building in textile industry: Secretary

By Shailesh Yadav
New Delhi [India], March 3 : As many as 92,000 weavers and artisans got placement in the 'Samarth' scheme, the demand-driven and placement-oriented umbrella skilling programme of the ministry of textiles since 2020, said Textile ministry Secretary Rachna Shah.
The secretary said that the scheme penetrated 28 states and six Union Territories of the country, and caters to all the sections of the society including Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and other marginalised categories.
Of the skilling target of 3.47 lakh beneficiaries allocated so far, 1.5 lakh beneficiaries have been provided training, she said.
"More than 85 per cent of the beneficiaries trained so far under the scheme are women. More than 70 per cent of the beneficiaries trained in organised sector courses have been provided placement," she said.
The ministry has partnered with 116 textile Industries/industry associations, 12 central/state government agencies and three sectoral organisations of the ministry for undertaking training programmes under Samarth.
To broad base the panel of implementing partners, the ministry has invited proposals for empanelment from the textile industry and industry associations, related to the sector. The portal for the submission of applications is open till March 14.
The implementation period of the scheme is up to March 2024. Samarth scheme was formulated under the broad skilling policy framework adopted by the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship.
Samarth aims to incentivise and supplement the industry's efforts in creating jobs in the organised textile and related sectors, covering the entire value chain of textiles, excluding spinning and weaving.
According to a statement from the ministry of Textiles, the training programme and course curriculum have been rationalised keeping in view the technological and market demand of the domestic and international economies.
In addition to the entry-level skilling, a special provision for upskilling/re-skilling programme has also been operationalised under the scheme towards improving the productivity of the existing workers in apparel and garment segments. 'Samarth' also caters to the upskilling/ re-skilling requirement of the traditional textile sector such as handloom, handicraft, silk and jute.
The scheme is implemented through implementing partners (IPs) comprising the textile industry, industry associations, state government agencies and sectoral organizations of the ministry of textiles like Development Commissioner Handloom, DC/Handicrafts and Central Silk Board.
Samarth has been formulated with advanced features such as an Aadhaar-Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS), Training of Trainers (ToT), CCTV recording of the training programme and a dedicated call centre with a helpline number and mobile app, according to the ministry statement.
The major processes/procedures adopted in the implementation of the scheme are Training Centres proposed by the implementing partners are to be physically verified through dedicated Government agencies to ensure the adequacy of requisite infrastructure as per the protocol adopted for each course under the scheme.
Furthermore, a total of 184 courses aligned with the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) have been adopted under the scheme across various textile segments covering the traditional sector like handloom/ handicrafts to conventional sectors like garmenting to advanced sectors like technical textiles, according to the ministry statement.
In addition, end-to-end digital solution for ease of implementation and monitoring.
Employment linkage is mandated in the courses under the organised textile sector with the mandatory placement of 70 per cent in entry-level and 90 per cent for upskilling programmes. Also, a mobile app for physical verification of the training centres with geo-tagging /time-stamped photographs.