Skill Training Pact Targets Bihar Rural Women
Patna: In a targeted push for rural women’s upliftment, the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Patna has launched a skill-training drive for Jeevika Didis—women from Bihar’s self-help groups under the Jeevika programme—to sharpen their prospects in the textile industry.
This comes via a freshly inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL), sealed today amid Union Minister of Textiles Giriraj Singh’s oversight.
The collaboration equips these rural women with industry-relevant skills and provides direct access to employment opportunities in Bihar’s growing textile sector. Training will occur at NIFT Patna’s Extension Centre in Begusarai district, focusing on garment manufacturing techniques, quality control, and machinery operation. The programme prepares participants for employment at ABFRL’s upcoming textile manufacturing unit in Begusarai district, creating a structured pathway from skill development to secure livelihoods.
Singh underscored the leap, saying it opens factory doors for 3.5 lakh Jeevika Didis nearby, with ripple effects to nearby areas soon. He flagged how the Jeevika setup—backed by Bihar’s Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society, India, and the World Bank—has rallied 1.4 crore women into groups that unlock loans, lift family earnings, and build clout, but this ties them straight to big-league textiles.
It’s no vague promise: prior NIFT sessions in the district already honed stitching chops and paychecks, and now this pact locks in formal job slots for the trainees.
“NIFT Patna has already conducted several successful training programmes for Jeevika Didis in Begusarai, which have led to significant improvements in their stitching skills and earning potential. With this MoU, the Jeevika Didis trained at the NIFT Extension Centre will now have direct access to formal industry jobs at ABFRL’s factory. Initially, 3.5 lakh women in the immediate region will benefit, and in the future, women from adjoining districts will also be included,” he said.
ABFRL’s stake? Matching NIFT’s classroom edge to factory-floor realities, crafting a playbook for nationwide tie-ups where women’s networks fuel local hustle. The payoff: not just paychecks, but clout in homes, self-reliance, and a Bihar boom via fresh factory jobs for all comers.
This fusion of policy muscle, campus smarts, and corporate heft spotlights a blueprint for growth that’s equal parts bold and bankable. The Jeevika Didis are part of Bihar’s Jeevika programme, implemented by the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS) with support from the Government of India and the World Bank. The programme has mobilised more than 1.4 crore rural women into self-help groups (SHGs), enabling them to access microfinance, improve household incomes, and gain social empowerment. This MoU links Jeevika Didis directly to formal employment opportunities in the textile and fashion sector, expanding their role beyond local enterprises to the mainstream industrial economy.
The partnership with ABFRL ensures that the skills imparted meet the demands of modern textile production. By connecting NIFT’s academic expertise with ABFRL’s industry requirements, the initiative creates a synergistic model of academia–industry collaboration. This model is expected to serve as a blueprint for future partnerships across India, especially in states where women’s collectives and rural livelihoods form the backbone of the local economy.
Beyond immediate employment, the programme is expected to have far-reaching social and economic benefits. By providing women with stable livelihoods, it will contribute to greater financial independence, improved decision-making power within households, and enhanced dignity for rural women. At the same time, the establishment of ABFRL’s manufacturing unit in Begusarai will contribute to the industrial development of Bihar, generating opportunities not just for women but for the broader local workforce.
This MoU is an initiative that integrates government vision, academic expertise, and industry leadership to deliver on the promise of inclusive and sustainable growth. It demonstrates how skill development, when aligned with employment assurance, can transform lives and create models of development that are both scalable and replicable across the nation.
– global bihari bureau
