The Industries Department has unveiled plans to set up skilled entrepreneurs’ units in all panchayats to provide manpower on-call for services such as plumbing, electrical works, electronics repair, carpentry and coconut tree climbing.
A meeting convened by Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan on Thursday decided to provide government support for the units comprising 25 trained members from each panchayat. The units will function under industrial cooperative societies.
Citizens can make use of the service from the societies. A call centre will be established for the purpose.
The meeting approved various other projects aimed at creating job opportunities. A rubber glove manufacturing unit would be established in Malapattam, Kannur. The Minister said the government would procure rubber from farmers and promote value addition for the uplift of the flagging sector.
Another initiative would focus on the manufacture of furniture from treated coconut wood. With as many as 145 lakh aged coconut trees slated to be cut down, the department plans to procure the wood for manufacture of furniture and handicraft.
The meeting also approved a short-term loan scheme on easy terms for industries. The credit would be provided by the Kerala State Industries Development Corporation (KSIDC) and the Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC).
The projects would be implemented by the District Industrial Centres with the support of KSIDC, ITIs, Additional Skills Acquisition Programme and Kerala State Institute of Design.
