Apparel Training & Design Centre (ATDC) continued its pursuit of excellence in vocational education space by providing employable skills for the youth, women and disadvantaged sections of society and has come a long way since its commencement in the year 1996. The year 2010-11 proved to be a significant year in many respects. The agreement signed with the IGNOU, the world’s largest Open University to convert major ATDC centres asCommunity Colleges under the Community College scheme took wings with 13 ATDC centres readied for launching the Certificate, Diploma & Associate Degree programmes from January 2010 which was the first Academic session after the launch of the Scheme. The response to the scheme was encouraging with 216 no. of students having enrolled in January 2010. The most important outcome was that it put ATDC processes on a course of alignment with that of a University System by which the academic systems like ‘Composite Board’, ‘Academic Committee’, ‘Examination Cell’ etc. were set in motion. The curricula was streamlined, code numbers for each ATDC-IGNOU Community College assigned, centralized exam dates implemented across ATDCs, centralized evaluation of answer papers, provision of transcripts to students, the students’ online access to information etc. This enabled the ATDC’s academic delivery to enter a new orbit of transformation. The Central Academic Office set up for managing of 25 community colleges also started taking shape from Rohini and the Senior Registrar was assigned to take charge of the same with support staff. The introduction of Community College is a game changer for ATDCs and creates in the long run a self-sustainable path as students will opt for quality programmes offering both sectoral skills and industry relevant knowledge with proper certification. Moreover, the ATDC-IGNOU Community College will provide a continuous supply of junior and middle level managers and professionals to the skill and talent starved apparel sector. ATDC academic system has now been clearly delineated during 2010 with changeover of all courses above 6 months up to 2 years under the ATDC-IGNOU Community College (AICC) system and all courses of 1-6 months duration covered under SMART project of Govt. of India.



The year also proved to be significant as the approval for the Integrated Skill Development Scheme (ISDS) following the submission of ATDC’s project in September 2009 became a reality with approval given by MOT, GoI in October 2010 for the State of Tamil Nadu to begin with. The first centre under the scheme with a “simulated factory atmosphere” from was launched in Egmore with a major national launch of scheme itself with central and state ministers participating in the launch function. Following this the Ministry of Textiles (MoT) granted Pan-India approval in February 2011 and during this period the existing 25 ATDC-IGNOU Community Colleges also started offering SMART courses from dedicated classrooms apart from setting up 2 new SMART centres exclusively and also by converting 31 ATDC’s SSDP centres to full-fledged ATDC-SMART centres. A National Project Office was set up from November 2010 along with the launch of ATDC’s own National Head Office building “Paridhan Vikas Bhawan”.

In the journey of ATDC having its NHO was a dream and the project which was commenced in 2008 was completed in November 2010 and the same was inaugurated on 22nd November 2010 by the Secretary (Textiles), MOT, Govt. of India. Many former Chairman and senior industry leaders participated in the function which was attended by Shri Premal Udani, Chairman, AEPC, ATDC & IAM, Shri Hari Kapoor, Vice-Chairman, ATDC, Shri H.K.L. Magu, Vice-Chairman, ATDC and other dignitaries.

Students Enrolment at ATDCs
During the Academic Session 2010-11(July-2010 & Jan-2011), a total of 10,613 candidates have enrolled in various programmes under ATDC-IGNOU Community College and ATDC-SMART Training Project. Since ATDC’s inception this has been the first time when ATDC has crossed the ten thousand candidate enrolment mark in an academic year. The summary is as follows:

Faculty / Administrative Competency Test for upgrading the faculty & admin resources
The system of Faculty Competency Test (FCT) introduced in 2009 was further strengthened with the 2nd session of FCT in August 2010 and also for administrative/accounts staff, the Administrative Competency Test was held in December 2010.

HR Initiatives
The HR activities took a definite turn for the betterment of the institute by introducing rolling contract and composite pay structure with clearly defined career progression. Draft service rules were also prepared and presented to the HRD Committee. The Chairman, ATDC constituted for the first time an ATDC HRD committee which met twice in the year for considering various HR related matters including revision of pay, promotion, redesignation etc. During the period, all the ATDC faculty and staff including contractual staff were brought under Medical Insurance Scheme under different slabs.

Principals’ Meet
In order to create a motivated team for ATDC, it was felt necessary to hold annual Principals Meet and the first sub meeting was held from 7th-9th April 2010. The 3 days Principals’ Meet consisted of region-wise presentations and meetings and combined meetings with all the Principals. Interactive team building sessions helped served as a great platform to share knowledge, experiences and challenges amongst the Principals, AICC Coordinator and NHO officials and the Industry-ATDC interaction session helped understand in depth the current and emerging requirements of the rapidly changing technologies and manufacturing process in the Apparel industry.

Progress of SMART Project

Since the commencement of the SMART project in October 2010 until the quarter end of 30th June 2011, 4715 no. of candidates have been trained with the Western Region showing an achievement of 162% against the target followed by Eastern Region showing 140% of achievement. The main courses under the SMART Training Project have been Sewing Machine Operator (Basic) with 76% of the candidates trained under that course followed by SMART Surface Ornamentation programme and SMART Quality Checker. The placement has been offered an around 70% with 42% going to small, medium and large enterprises and rest to the self help group, domestic unit etc. The major achievement of the SMART programme has been a Fast-Track curricula of training of operators with the help of international consultants and developing trainers’ manuals and trainees manuals for six courses under SMART. A kit has been developed for each trainee and the test has been devised for selection of candidates. With tie-up with machinery manufacturers Juki and Brother, the capability of mechanics is being upgraded by providing continuous training. ATDC TOT (SMART) Academy is taking lead in training of trainers for all the ATDC Centres.

During the year, in a memorable effort ATDC Thiruvananthapuram centre situated in

KINFRA Apparel Park was purchased for expanding the activities. Similarly, in Chhindwara the construction of a permanent campus commenced with an outlay of Rs. 3.20 Crore (for Phase-I) where the construction is progressing rapidly. In Patna also, the land has been acquired for construction of an ATDC building. During the period, ATDC-Noida construction was completed and AEPC handed over 3 floors of building for setting up the ATDC Noida centre. In Faridabad, construction of ATDC building has commenced and is expected to be completed by 2012.

Employer-Employee Relations
Cordial and excellent relations prevailed across all ATDC centres. Grievance Redressal in place helped in addressing many of the issues. ‘Salary Anomalies Committee’ set up for pay related matters also helped in settling many pending matters of to the satisfaction of many faculty / staff members.

Governance
The ATDC’s BOG meetings were held in a timely manner with considerable participation from all the members. During the period 2010-11, Two BOG meetings were held on 15.09.2010 (36th BOG) and 22.11.2010 (37th BOG). Chairman, ATDC had set up a Core-Committee for overseeing the SMART project which met on 26.8.2010, 15.9.2010 and 9.12.2010. Similarly, a Steering Group to deal with the policy matters of SMART project constituted by the Chairman which met on 24.01.2011 and 15.4.2011. Similarly the Chairman, ATDC constituted an ATDC HRD committee to deal with ATDC staff matters which met on 10.3.2011. With the above timely meetings and overview by the AEPC/ATDC management, there was coordination on policy and implementation on all levels. In the AEPC-EC meetings held during the period the progress related to ATDC was reported in detail.

ATDC’s Qualified Faculty Resource and State-of-the-Art ATDC Centres led by a sound & dedicated management team with a strong faculty pool of over 350 Trainers, Instructors & Lecturers are putting in sustained efforts for all around improvement of ATDC’s performance and they require the appreciation and support of the apparel industry and especially the export sector on a continuous basis so that they aspire for even greater achievement in future.

The ATDC management places on record its gratitude to Ministry of Textiles for having selected ATDC as nodal agency under Component-I for implementing the SMART Project and also for extending assistance and guidance in many respects especially the intervention of Secretary (Textiles) in few states related to implementation of SMART project. It also thanks the Board of Governors, Members of Core Committee, Steering Group Committee, Purchase & Procurement Committee, ATDC-HRD Committee which have overseen the governance of ATDC. It also places on record of appreciation for the work done by the faculty, staff and other employees of ATDC while putting their best efforts in improving the overall image and student enrolment during the year. It places on record its appreciation of work done by Statutory Auditor M/s. S.P. Puri & Co. and its banker Indian Overseas Bank and other associated banks also. It also places on record its appreciation to various sponsoring organizations which extended sponsorship to its candidates across India. The regional offices and centres in remote areas have performed against many odds and it requires appreciation and acknowledgement by the management.

ATDC’s Vision is encapsulated in “Imparting Skills and Improving Lives” and the mission is to train skilled workforce for the rapidly growing export and domestic sectors of the Apparel Industry and upgrade the technical skills to improve quality, productivity and efficiency in a global context. The penultimate year of XI th plan ahead and the 12th FY plan augur well for ATDCs considerable growth to emerge as a leader in vocational education for apparel sector.