Chandigarh: Two industrial clusters figure in the list of 19 selected from across the country under the Skills Strengthening for Industrial Value Enforcement (STRIVE), a World Bank funded project aimed at broadened apprenticeship training of the ITI trainees.
The industrial clusters from Haryana selected by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of the Central Government are Rai Industries Association, Sonepat, and Integrated Association of Micro Small and Medium Enterprise of India, Faridabad.
The industrial clusters selected under STRIVE will get funding of Rs 1 crore each over a period of three years for imparting training to students of the industrial training institutes.
Among others industrial clusters selected by the Central government are three from Karnataka, two each from Odisha, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Telangana and one each from Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Uttrakhand and Madhya Pradesh.
“It is a matter of pride for Haryana that of the 19-odd industrial clusters selected from across the country, two are from our state. We had selected these two clusters from a number of applicants because of their robust infrastructure,” said Raja Sekhar Vundru, Additional Chief Secretary, Skill Development and Industrial Training Department, Haryana.
Vundru said the government would have a tripartite agreement involving the Department of Skill Development and Industrial Training, Haryana; Directorate General of Training in the Central government and the industrial cluster concerned.
He said though the action plan was still to be chalked out, the Department would sign the tripartite agreement within a month.
“The industrial clusters will get Rs 1 crore each for a period of three years after the signing of the agreement,” Vundru said.
Rakesh Chhabra, president of Rai Industries Association, said his members were exited after the cluster’s selection among 19 in the country from hundreds of applicants.
“For making the cluster, we invited applications from industrialists who have 10 or more workers. Nearly 35 industries have joined our cluster,” he added. Chhabra said the ITI trainees coming to their cluster would get the best industrial training needed for preparing them to be part of the workforce and after completion of their training they would be fit to work in any industry of their expertise.
