Saurabh Gupta | 02 May, 2011
After laying the foundation stone of Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) in Jodhpur recently, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Anand Sharma announced Jodhpur as a Mega Leather Cluster in Rajasthan.
Sharma said the one of the proposed seven Mega Leather Clusters will be in Rajasthan, which will give a boost to the leather industry in Rajasthan. The Central government has sanctioned for this.
Sharma said, "In the next 10 years 10 million youngsters will enter the workforce we need to improve the job opportunities to absorb them. Skill upgrading through institutes like FDDI is the only way to move forward."
He assured that the FDDI Jodhpur will be a state-of-the-art institute equipped with latest facilities and world standard faculty. Land for the institute will be given by the Rajasthan Government and the full expenditure to the tune of Rs 97 crore is being borne by the Central Government.
He said that the Central Government, in partnership with the Government of Rajasthan is investing heavily in the vocational training of the youth in the state. Apart from Rs 40 Crore 'Support for Artisans' programme through FDDI, the government is also running a Rs 60 Crore Placement Linked Skill Development Programme under which 700 youngsters of the state have been trained and placed in jobs in last six months.
"The government is coming out with path-breaking policies Rajasthan needs to be ready to benefit from them," he added.
