Odisha Govt Plans to Train 2,000 Women in Rubber Slipper Manufacturing

The primary goal of this collaboration is to improve livelihood opportunities for SHG women members by promoting entrepreneurship and market-focused skilling in footwear manufacturing.

According to reports, RCPSDC will train and empower up to 2000 women SHG members over the next two years to start their own micro manufacturing/assembling units.

In addition to skill training, the project envisions establishing at least 100 footwear manufacturing/assembling units by engaging 2000 skilled SHG members and facilitating credit linkage, branding, and market connect, including connections with large retailers or export-houses, as reported by Update Odisha.

"SHG women members will be trained in all aspects of footwear manufacturing, from sourcing raw materials to storage, manufacturing, quality checking, packaging, warehousing, sales, bookkeeping, and banking," said Saif Mohammad, CEO of RCPSDC.

The ultimate goal will be for 2,000 selected women SHG members to become self-employed Hawai Slipper manufacturers, he added.

Women will learn new skills in footwear design and manufacturing by utilizing modern technology. Instead of using manual processes as in previous years, women artisans can now use technology and mechanical processes. This will strengthen their financial position.

Aside from skill development, RCPSDC will assist SHGs / Producer Groups in connecting with large retailers or export-houses for work that can be outsourced.

The goal of RCPSDC is to improve understanding of the skills required in the rubber industry in order to plan for capacity-building needs and to create a source of information that provides qualitative and quantitative information on the rubber sector's labour market.