OREANDA-NEWS.  The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce & Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman today appreciated the progress made by Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) in filling the skill gap of footwear and leather sector. "FDDI is providing training to about 15,000 people every month. Annually around two lakh people are getting trained for the purpose of getting jobs... FDDI is an institute which provides directly placement linked training to people," Smt. Sitharaman said. The Minister was speaking during the 2014 Convocation Ceremony of Footwear Design and Development Institute in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

The Minister congratulated the graduates on their achievement and said that it is a matter of pride for the institute. FDDI has made a landmark achievement in ‘Skill Development’ by training 2,00,503 unemployed youth and providing employment to 1,61,773 through its 55 Operator Training Centres (OTCs) established across the country. The OTCs are established under the Placement Linked Skill Development Programme (PLSDP) of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India at 55 locations.

These OTCs have state-of-the art machinery in cutting and closing operations equipped with, training material, handouts etc. At these centres, unemployed youth belonging to the economically weaker section of the society are being selected, trained and provided assistance to get employment in the footwear industries at the shop floor level operations.

The FDDI, bridging the skill gap of the footwear, leather, fashion, retail & management sector, has established its footprints worldwide. The Institute has pan-India presence with eight campuses at Noida, Fursatganj, Chennai, Kolkata, Chhindwara, Rohtak, Jodhpur and Guna. Four new campuses of FDDI are coming up next year at Patna, Hyderabad, Gujarat and Punjab.