Odisha Skill Development Authority (OSDA) would be using the expertise from NIFT-TEA Knitwear Institute to impart knitwear industry-specific lessons into the training programmes which the Authority already been running through various institutes in Odisha, said G. Rajesh, an Indian Forest Service Officer and member secretary of OSDA.

For which OSDA to join hands with the Tirupur knitwear industry stakeholders to ensure that the cluster here gets ‘specifically trained manpower’ from Odisha for apparel production.

The collaboration will provide an impetus to the apparel cluster here as they need not have to train a rookie worker to cater to the specific needs in the production process and at the same time the trained workforce in Odisha also gets quality employment.

The idea to hold this initiative came in the wake of an increase in the flow of labourers from Odisha to Tirupur during the recent times, but at the same time the workers were found not to be fully suited for the specific needs that were expected by the apparel manufacturers here.

It resulted in many workers from Odisha end up doing unskilled works and eventually they were found moving to other clusters.

The experts from NIFT-TEA Institute will visit Odisha to oversee the existing training programmes for textile industry and suggest the changes that need to be incorporated in the lessons to suit to the knitwear production.