The will to skill
The Textile Technology Training Center in Tirupur is equipping young graduates with the know-how to secure jobs, while meeting the demands of a thriving industry
Soft-spoken and a bit shy she may be, but Duraisamy Suganthi does not lack confidence when describing her career path and how it is panning out. “I had the theoretical knowledge, I had practical experience and I now have this job. There’s no doubt that I will make a success of it,” says the 23-year-old Ms Suganthi, a native of Tirupur (Tamil Nadu) who has settled into gainful employment.
Ms Suganthi is one of 460 graduates — the majority of them women — who have completed a skilling course that equips them to find placement in Tirupur’s thriving textile and knitwear industry. Their alma mater is the Textile Technology Training (T3) Center, established in July 2022 in Tirupur by Reviving Green Revolution (RGR) Cell, an associate organisation of the Tata Trusts.
“I was nervous and a little blank when I started at the Center, but I got a hang of things quickly thanks to the trainers and the way the course is structured,” says Ms Suganthi, who completed the training in May 2024 and found a position at a garment company less than six months later. “The teaching was superb and that enabled me to settle into my job quickly.”
Ms Suganthi’s story is similar to that of most who have come through T3’s skills training, which is provided free of cost. They hail from less-than-privileged backgrounds, they are based in and around Tirupur, and they have ambitions that transcend their modest circumstances.
Mohammed Farman, 22, is looking to set up a manufacturing unit for women’s garments that can augment his father’s tailoring business. Mohaseena, a 24-year-old who goes by a single name, wants to get into management in the “textiles field”. Murugesan Dhivya, 23, is hoping she can learn all she can about fabrics, fibres and garments. And Deepashri Ramaswamy, 20 — with an unemployed father and school-going siblings — dreams of a secure job that will lift her family out of poverty.
T3 has fuelled the future of these youth in an environment where employment is scarce, social discrimination is rife and financial constraints leave families unable to support their children educationally beyond graduation. On the other side lies Tirupur and its textile sector, forever in search of skilled personnel and facing a crunch due to the shortage of it.
The T3 course has been designed to bridge the gap that divides educated but unemployed young people from Tirupur and the villages neighbouring it, on the one hand, and a textile industry, on the other, with a plethora of openings for skilled labour to fill roles that demand technical know-how of a high order.
With a three-month duration, the T3 course has three skilling modules: textile lab technician, merchandising and the latterly introduced fabric quality inspection. Also on the training menu are soft skills such as communication, problem-solving and the building of self-confidence. This combination of professional and personal development has proven to be a winner.
The course itself has five components: classroom sessions, industry visits, guest lectures, practical training and internships. Placements are almost a given, with more than 75% of those completing the course getting jobs. Giving preference to women candidates was a conscious decision, though this may sometimes take convincing family members.
Lending a hand
The statistics are stark: 73% of workers in India aged 15-59 years have not had any formal or informal vocational or technical training; more than 12 million youth in the 15-29 age range are added to India’s labour force each year; and ensuring that women account for half the new workforce created by 2030 is critical for the country to attain an 8% GDP growth rate.
The Tata Trusts have been deeply invested in lending a hand to enhance India’s skilling ecosystem. Leading this effort is Tata STRIVE, which operates under the aegis of the Trusts. Tata STRIVE focuses on skilling youth from economically stressed backgrounds. It has touched the lives of more than 1.3 million people, youth in the main, through 156 centres in 24 states.
Another initiative by the Tata Trusts that is making a difference is the Indian Institute of Skills (IIS), established in collaboration with the Government of India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. IIS offers highly specialised and future-facing courses in industrial automation robotics, computer numerical control, robotic welding, 3D printing, electric vehicles and hospitality.
The Textile Technology Training Center in Tirupur is of a piece with the skilling push of the Trusts. Its performance since being set up in 2022, and the promise it holds of reaping further gains, shows what can be achieved in what is no less than a national cause.
Bringing them on board
The T3 approach starts with the mobilisation of young graduates — the stream does not matter — from local colleges and nearby villages. The initiative has staffers dedicated to the task and they meet college principals, heads of panchayats (village councils) and even parents to spread the word about the course and its benefits.
The course curriculum has been crafted to meet industry requirements and the trainees are independently certified after written and practical examinations. Exposure visits to textile factories and testing labs are a constant and the guest lectures, delivered by industry experts, orient the students to the latest technologies, emerging trends and the opportunities they can seize.
The prospects of the trainees are bright, with salary offers ranging from 
10,000 to 25,000 a month. The T3 team arranges interviews for those who have completed the skilling course and they are supported even after they secure employment.
The T3 programme has a host of partners. It is funded by the United Kingdom-based Intertek, a 130-year-old enterprise that provides what is known as ‘total quality assurance’ to a variety of industries and services around the world, including textiles and garments (Intertek has a presence in Tirupur as well). Also on board are the Tirupur Exporters Association and an array of textile laboratories and garment companies.
Continuous examinations and certifications are conducted in collaboration with Methods Apparel Consultancy, an authorised body of the National Skill Development Corporation, which operates under the Indian government’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Housing the Center in Tirupur, India’s knitwear capital, makes sense. The city’s economy is based on the textile industry, there are some 10,000 garment-manufacturing units here, it employs more than over 600,000 people, has annual exports in excess of $5.1 billion, and some of the world’s largest companies — including Nike and Adidas — as clients.
T3 has had its share of challenges to overcome — low enrolment in its initial days, for instance — but these have been mostly teething troubles. Now in its third phase, the programme is on a sound footing and its potential for further growth is positive (there are plans to take the idea to more locations in India).
“The need and the purpose for such a centre will never fade,” says Arul Durai, a programme manager with RGR Cell, the implementors of the initiative. “As the textile industry grows, so too will the demand for skilled professionals. We believe this centre has the potential to become an institution — and who better than the Tata Trusts to drive that vision?”
