INDIA: Minister of Textiles graces NITRA Convocation 2007-08

NITRA Convocation 2007-08 was held on Saturday, 27th September 2008 at NITRA, Ghaziabad. Sh. E.V.K.S.elangovan, Minister of State, Textiles, Govt. of India had illuminated the occasion as the chief guest. 265 students from 12 programs were awarded medals and certificates in this year’s convocation.

Dr. R. C. Jain, Chairman, NITRA, in his welcome address informed that NITRA’s rise as a centre for job oriented techno-management programs related to textiles and garment industry has been phenomenal. So far, about 1200 boys and girls, hailing from semi-urban and rural areas as well as from the metropolis were trained and are undergoing training at NITRA. He opined that, NITRA by way of providing skilled manpower to the industry also meets the Govt. of India’s policy objective to create more job opportunities for women, backward classes and youngsters.

Director NITRA Dr. J,V.Rao, while presenting his report mentioned that today NITRA has set benchmarking standard in job oriented professional training and offers 15 industry oriented techno-management programs on regular, part-time and distance learning modes in textile/garment manufacturing, textile/garment designing, merchandising, quality assurance, garment finishing, sewing machine operation & maintenance, industrial environment technology and industrial energy conservation. A few more areas like fashion technology and retail management are also in the pipeline.

NITRA’s regular programs are, continued Dr. Rao, on one hand providing career opportunities to youngsters especially the girls, and on the other hand, meeting the growing demand for skilled manpower in the textile/garment/allied industry. NITRA’s customized DLP programs provide ample opportunities for working executives to upgrade their skills. While talking about industry participation in NITRA’s activities, he emphasized on NITRA-Ramsons collaborative training program that launched in 200-06.

He mentioned that the industry has fully recognized the programs offered by NITRA and about 85% of the students passed out are well placed in the industry. The Director also informed about the recently launched DOEACC “O” level computer program that NITRA offers in association with DOEACC Society under Ministry of Communication & IT and approved by AICTE.

He also mentioned about the training of Ethiopian engineers at NITRA. Dr. Rao also touched upon the formation of proposed “Centre of Excellence” at NITRA for carrying out R&D and training in the area of protective textiles. The centre will be operational very soon and will run in collaboration with IIT, Delhi.

Before awarding certificate and administering ‘oath of honor’ to the students, Sh. E.V.K.S.elangovan, Minister of State, Textiles in his convocation address said that the Indian textile & apparel sector has the potential to reach a size of US$ 110 billion by 2012. In addition to export upsurge, the projected rise in domestic consumption will also fuel this growth.

However, to achieve this potential, today the key area that requires immediate attention is manpower training and management of human resources. In fact, 94% of the manpower engaged in apparel sector is trained on the job and only 6% posses any formal institutional training.

He mentioned that the Govt. of India has taken several steps including setting up of NIFTs, NIFD and ATDCs all over the country to boost up manpower training for textile and apparel industry. He also opined that Govt. initiatives should be supplemented by reputed institutes like NITRA.

To conclude, the minister reputedly appreciated NITRA’s infrastructure set-up and faculty expertise for developing trained and skilled workforce for shop-floor and supervisory level of the apparel and textile industry. He also expressed happiness over the initiatives taken by NITRA in this direction.

After the award ceremony for regular & DLP students, Mr. Mehereteab Mulugeta Haile, Minister Counselor, Ethiopian Embassy, India awarded certificates to 21 Ethiopian engineers. In this context, it may be recalled that NITRA bagged a prestigious assignment from Govt. of Ethiopia, in 2004 to establish a Textile & Apparel Institute (TAI) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The implementation of the project is now in progress and will be completed by the end of 2009. As a part of the said project, 12 textile engineers from TAI had come to NITRA for undergoing special training in various areas of textiles and apparel manufacturing. Rest of the trainees represented Alameda Textiles, a leading group in Ethiopia.

Sh. Shishir Jaipuria, Deputy Chairman, NITRA emphasized on sufficient funding by the Govt. for carrying out research and training to actually benefit the industry. He referred the Prime Minister’s National Council for Skill Development Project for creating 500 million skilled workers by 2022.

He opined that NITRA, being an institution offering technical training to both professionals and youngsters since its inception, could be one of the operative arms for Govt. of India to accomplish this project. Sh. Jaipuria also proposed the formal vote of thanks to conclude the ceremony.

Also present in the occasion were Sh. R. L. Nolkha, Vice Chairman, NITRA. Sh. Partha Basu, Public Relations Officer & Faculty, NITRA conducted the program.

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