Apparel unit in tribal area to boost women employment

An apparel manufacturing unit will be set up in the tribal-dominated Kuchinda sub-division of Odisha's Sambalpur district to provide employment to women throughout the year and also to augment their livelihood, an official said.

The clothing plant will come up at Ardabahal under the Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

It will be the first apparel industry under the scheme in the state and Rs 2.79 crore will be spent on the project. The Union government will bear 90 per cent of the cost and the rest will be provided by the state government.

An agreement will be signed on Wednesday between the Khadi and Village Industry Commission and the Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS).

"As many as 250 industrial sewing machines will be installed at the unit," said Srimanta Hota, the deputy chief executive officer of ORMAS in Sambalpur.

The project will provide employment to more than 500 women from 50 women self-help groups (WSHGs). The women, who will be provided training in sewing, will earn not less than Rs 8,000 per month, Hota said.

Sambalpur District Collector Dibya Jyoti Parida and Kuchinda sub-collector Aditya Goyal have already initiated the process and a land for the project has been identified.

A target has also been set to make the unit operational by March 2023.

The ORMAS will facilitate the marketing of the apparel and contact educational institutions for making their uniforms in the unit, Hota said.

"We will also take steps for export of the apparel in future," he said.

A trust named Ujjwala Apparel Trust has been formed to run and manage the unit, he added.