The Indian Ministry of Shipping has unveiled the first financial boost for capacity building and safety training of 20,000 workers involved in the ship recycling activities at Sosiya recycling yard in Alang, Gujarat.
Contributed as part of the country’s Coastal Community Development Programme under Sagarmala, the investment amounts to INR 100 million (USD 1.5 million) and represents the first instalment injected into capacity building and safety training.
The total project cost is estimated to be INR 300 million (USD 4.5 million) over a period of 3 years.
The initiative has been identified in the National Perspective Plan (NPP) of Sagarmala for the upliftment of the coastal community and aims to provide health and safety training to the skilled and semi-skilled workers employed at ship recycling yards, according to the ministry.
With the increased volume of ship recycling over last decade and the accident prone nature of the ship breaking activities, the ministry opted to enhance the capacity build-up and upgrade the existing training standards.
The safety training programme under Sagarmala has been specifically designed and conforms to the Common Norms for Skill Development Schemes under National Skill Qualification Framework notified by the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship in Gazette Notification dated 8th August, 2015.
The Sosiya recycling yard, which employs an average 15,000-25,000 workers at a time, recycles some 350 ships every year.