Women at the training centre. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 6: Sumitra Sahu, a young woman from Pokhariput, can stitch garments like a pro using a mechanised sewing machine.

Still learning, she is confident of making a living out of the trade. She is particularly good at making uniforms and women’s wear.

Laxmipriya Behera, another young woman undergoing apparel-making training at the micro-business centre on Kargil Road at Pokhariput, has also developed similar kind of confidence.

The centre, which was inaugurated by chief minister Naveen Patnaik today, also trains young men and women in making incense sticks, papad and various other snacks.

Aturanjan Lenka, a trainer at the centre, said: “The growth of several educational institutions across the city and the demand for various kinds of uniforms has created a market for apparels. Trained young women and men can tap this market.”

On the first day, the centre saw many visitors queuing up to buy dry foods produced by the trainees. The youths were taught how to make bhujia, mixture, papad and badi.

Housing and urban development minister Debi Prasad Misha said: “The micro-business centre has become functional from a nearby rented house since July. About 30 people have undergone training in each trade so far. While in the first phase, the centre is focusing only on apparel and dry food making, it will include plumbing, carpentry and electrical fitting training in the near future.

The market linkage for the centre will be assured so that products manufactured by the trainees inside the centre can be sold outside in the same name.

The micro-business centre was created at an investment of Rs 77 lakh and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) executed the project in collaboration with Centurion University of Technology and Management. The funding, however, came from the Centre-funded Swarna Jayanti Sahari Rojgar Yojana.

Centurion University president Muktikanta Mishra and BMC assistant commissioner (slum) Binay Kumar Das claimed that the centre, developed in public private-partnership, has become the first of its kind in the country with its approach to train youth in various trades under a single roof. The ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation has considered the building as a role model to be replicated in other parts.

Mishra assured that such centres would be replicated in other cities of the state and especially in other municipal corporations such as Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela.