With the government determined to provide the much-needed boost to industry in Andhra Pradesh, the manufacturing sector is bound to grow, feel experts. “Among other segments, garment manufacturing sector, especially, will witness a boom time. There’s no dearth of takers for the proposed apparel parks across Andhra Pradesh,” says P.L. Panda, former Director of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Hyderabad.
Mr. Panda, who is currently senior consultant to Government of Tripura for development of handloom sector, has done a remarkable job in reviving the sheen of handlooms by launching need-based State programmes for uplift of the weavers. “Surface ornamentation is the present mantra. This area has enormous potential. Either it has to be embroidery or zardozi, women have almost shun plain saris. Churning out a garment from a loom is not enough. Unless it is ornamented, people don’t buy them,” he says.
Referring to the Skill Development Centre proposed to be set up at city-based Samana Institute for Design Studies (SIDS), he said members of women self-help groups and others would be imparted training under this government-sponsored programme.
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“It will be a step towards women empowerment. People now import embroidered and zardozi stuff from places like Surat, Lucknow and Kanpur. We intend to fill this gap and create a local market,” he says.
Mr. Panda is also the Development Advisor to SIDS. “Women can undergo training here and set up their own units at home to begin with,” he suggested.
He says women in Tripura who had small looms that could earn them a paltry Rs. 30 a day in the past, forcing them to migrate to cities in search of better avenues, are now earning between Rs. 200 and Rs. 250 per day thanks to the training.
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