The textiles industry will need six crore skilled workforce by 2022, Union Minister of State for Textiles (I/C), Santosh Gangwar said in New Delhi on Thursday.

While addressing a national workshop on Integrated Skill Development Scheme, the Minister said that India needs a total of six crore skilled people in the textile sector by 2022.

Expressing happiness at the employment of large number of women in textiles and allied sectors, Gangwar hoped that the workshop would give a new direction to the scheme.

Underscoring the importance of skill development, he said that a change in mind-set has been brought about by the new Government under the leadership of Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Minister said that the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is a step in this direction.

Gangwar said that we have to go to the person in need; skilling programmes have to reach those in need of them. He said that this area of work is not confined to cities, but extends to villages and remote corners of the country as well.

The Minister spoke of the need for training programmes to be linked with microfinance, so that those wanting to start enterprises on their own upon completion of training, get some financial assistance.

Expressing happiness at the employment of large number of women in the textile and allied sectors, the Textiles Minister hoped that the Workshop would give a new direction to the Integrated Skill Development Scheme and take it forward with renewed vigour.

Sanjay Kumar Panda, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles opened the inaugural address by thanking 'the young sisters'; "what they said is our certificate", the Secretary said.

He said that the self-confidence these ISDS beneficiaries have acquired is their biggest strength. He said that the scheme is powerful in connecting training agencies on the one hand with beneficiaries in villages on the other.

Panda said that youth today are impatient and in search of opportunities. They can get meaningful employment if the right type of skill is provided. For this, he said that the skill imparted has to be of good quality and as per industry needs.

As regards the organized textile sector, Panda said that there is a need to scale up production and employment, ensuring zero defect (in products) and zero effect (on environment) as per the directions of the Hon'ble Prime Minister.

He said that India’s demographic dividend can be the answer to increasing the national share in world's textiles. He said that the approach of the Government has been to help industry players and enable them to take this forward, by steps such as improving ease of doing business.

He said that standardization of syllabi as per industry requirements and building infrastructure for training have been measures in this direction. He appealed to the industry to take the programme to greater heights, ensuring a minimum placement of 70 percent.

The Secretary said that in the unorganized sector, skilling programmes should not end with training; efforts are being taken to organize the trainees into Self Help Groups on completion of training. He said that Common Facility Centres are also being set up in order to provide the requisite infrastructure, training and design support. Dr. Panda talked about the special focus being given to impart skill training for disadvantaged sections.

He highlighted the efforts of the Government to make growth inclusive, highlighting the example of Apparel and Garment Making Centres which are being set up in the North East Region.