Kodikkunnil Suresh, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, has mooted the idea of setting up Coir Parks, in line with the existing Rubber Parks, to buy technology, make products and find export markets.
“The Central Government has allocated crores of rupees for the ‘ASIDE’ (Assistance to States for Infrastructure Development and Exports) scheme. Why don’t we take advantage of this fund pool to create something like a Coir Park,” he said while inaugurating the national seminar at Coir Kerala 2013 at Alappuzha on Monday.
The Minister also called upon Kerala Government to consider setting up a Coir and Natural Fibre design institute along the lines of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and the Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI), to focus on research and design aspects that will make coir products trendy.
Welfare schemes
The Central Government has also plans to extend to coir workers a number of welfare schemes including ESI and EPF programmes and the Skills Development initiative. Steps were being taken to provide the benefits of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) — the much-lauded health insurance scheme for the poor to the workers in the coir sector, he said.
The Labour Ministry’s Skill Development Initiative will help coir workers increase employability by providing them vocational training and to certify existing skills that will help them find jobs within the country and overseas.
“India is well placed to gain the ground that Chinese products are losing worldwide. If we invest in skills up-gradation, new technology and product development in coir we can benefit immensely from this shift,” the Minister said.
He also urged coir agencies to take the lead in evolving projects focused on these areas.
G. Vijayaraghavan, Member, Planning Board, floated the idea of an innovation zone for coir sector like Startup Village for technology.
There are ideas that come from the industry and there are the ones that come from researchers. But there is a huge talent pool of students and young engineers who are bursting with ideas that the coir sector can benefit from immensely, he said.
He also suggested large cash incentives and rewards to motivate young entrepreneurs and greater encouragement for coir value-added products such as fibre blends and composites.