Tiruppur Exporters Association (TEA) has launched a program in collaboration with the Union Government to train and professionalize youngsters hitherto working as laborers in knitwear units.

Raja M Shanmugham, President, TEA says, through this program, the association aims to elevate these laborers as designers and master craftsmen who would be able to design fashionable wears of global standards.

He said lakhs of workers are employed in the knitwear units. Many unemployed youths make a beeline to Tiruppur to get a job and they end up as working in the assembly line. They use their physical prowess but not their hearts. The program SAMARTH (Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector) launched by the Ministry of Textiles intends to train 16,000 workers over the next two years as full time designers, dress makers and craftsmenm.

The 45-day residential program will grant a monthly stipend of Rs 14,000/- and refreshments to laborers. It will increase the competitiveness and productivity of the workers.