The Union Textiles Minister Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, along with Chief Minister of Meghalaya Dr. Mukul Sangma, inaugurated the first ever Apparel and Garment Making Centre in Meghalaya, near Ampati in South West Garo Hills.
The Apparel Centre will create employment opportunities for both men and women of the region, thereby empowering them economically.
The sprawling Apparel and Garment Making Centre, covering an area of 45,000 sq. ft, has been set up at Hatisil near Ampati, at a cost of approximately Rs. 14.26 crore, under the North East Region Textiles Promotion Scheme (NERTPS) of the Ministry of Textiles.
The centre has three units, two of them housing 105 sewing machines each, and the third one having seventy machines.
The foundation stone for this centre was laid in 2015 by the Chief Minister of Meghalaya, in the presence of the then Union Textiles Minister. Its construction was completed by NBCC, in a record time of less than two years.
Background:
The Apparel and Garment Making Centre is being set up as part of a landmark initiative announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Nagaland, on 1st December, 2014.
The Prime Minister had announced that an Apparel and Garment Making Centre shall be constructed in all North Eastern states.
Each Apparel and Garment Making Centre set up under the initiative is estimated to generate direct employment for 1,200 people.
The initiative comes under the North East Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS) of the Ministry of Textiles.
NERTPS is an umbrella scheme for the development of various segments of textiles, i.e. silk, handlooms, handicrafts and apparels & garments.