Better Late Than Never

Quoting official sources, a newspaper report has made the welcome disclosure that Ministry of Textile Industry is taking special initiatives to raise the capacity of such vocational and technical institutes and also to go for uniform policy structure for all of them. Moreover, significantly, to make the most of this long due move, the ministry will be seen to have done well to make special arrangements for funding of these institutes for up-gradation and enhancement of their capacity. Thus, making an objective assessment of the efforts that have been made in that direction, it was noted that when the ministry of textile was created in 2004 the administrative control of training and education institutes in specific areas were transferred to it.
Again, as these institutes were set up with the financial resources provided from the Export Development Fund (EDF), to the federal government belonged all the physical and capital assets and property of these institutes. It is, however, another matter that the national textile policy, 2009, envisaged comprehensive development of textile sector, hence also including a detailed programme for skill development to support the textile sector, more so as the entire sector continues to be badly lacking in skilled manpower.
As such, in the normal scheme of things to streamline the process, the ministry is executing an agreement with respective institutes, so as to ensure a uniform policy structure. Under the strategy now adopted, the institutes would continue to impart training in the areas of particular textile associations, as in the past, their management administered by the chairmen of respective associations. Needless to point out, too much time has been lost in making a beginning in the right direction, thereby, retarding the pace of progress in a conceptual vacuum. As they say, well begun is half done, we hope the goals now set would set the pace for the stipulated results.