When most Government/trade bodies’ initiatives are focusing on creation of skilled labourers in textile sector, entrepreneurs from Tirupur cluster and its hinterland have come together to create a workforce pool of young technocrats required for the various segments of textile production.
The project was conceptualised by Texpreneurs Forum, formed of different textile sector stakeholders, under the title of ‘Texpreneurs Apprenticeship Programme for Engineers (TAPE)’ and plans to train 500 engineering graduates from Tamil Nadu, who have passed in different streams of studies, for various jobs in the textile industry in the preliminary phase.
“Though huge number of engineering students graduate every year in the State, many of them do not possess the ability to get straight into employment. Our initiative is to make them ‘employable’ for multiple segments through on-field training and thereby, overcome the shortage of engineers faced in the industry,” Prabhu Damodaran, secretary of the Forum, said.
The Texpreneurs Forum has constituted a team of 15 professionals, who have rich experience in the textile industry, to impart training to the fresh graduates once they got recruited.
For recruitment, the young graduates will be given simple tests to analyse their IQ, passion for the industry and leadership skills.
“We have conceptualised unique training modules comprising limited class-room training, but extensive industry exposure with salaries to be given by the individual units which recruit them on a par with the existing perks available in any other industry,” Mr. Prabhu Damodran said.
Industry sources pointed out that the industry faced shortage of competent engineers even though their scopes were immense.
“Engineers are needed for running electrical and electronics-controlled machinery for energy conservation and for ensuring preventive maintenance of machinery,” Mr. Prabhu Damodaran said.
