Mukul Sangma, Chief Minister of Meghalaya, feels that India’s growth in the global apparel export market is due to its failure to concentrate in semi-urban centres and small towns where labour cost is low. Inaugurating a pilot project on ‘Employment Linked Vocational Training Programme’ at Tura, Garo Hills, Sangma said that the country must shift its focus from the cities and metros to suburbs and small towns in garment manufacturing.
“The cost of garment manufacturing is high in the cities and metros, so the focus must shift to small towns and suburbs where the cost of labour is comparatively low,” he told the gathering. Sangma was of the view that apart from training the students in garment manufacturing, designers should also be roped in to add more value to the products. He added that the State Government was also in the process of imparting similar training to youths in different vocational courses so that they too could become entrepreneurs one day.
