In a significant development, the apparel exporters of the country under the banner of Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) have pledged to carry forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for employment generation by announcing a total investment of Rs 623 crore in the industry and provide job opportunities to an estimated 30120 labour workforce within couple of months.

The pledge was taken within the last five days and the AEPC expects more apparel industrialists will come forward and pledge towards the achievement of this target. Joint Secretary (Exports), Ministry of Textiles, Sunaina Tomar was present on the occasion alongwith AEPC Chairman Ashok G. Rajani.

Tomar requested AEPC to formulate a time bound action plan as to what needs to be done to generate the extra employment. On the occasion she also addressed on the expectation of the government from textile and apparel sector and simultaneously thanked the government for introducing labour friendly reforms. 

"The reforms have been initiated for the betterment of the labour, like the government bearing the employers' contribution of the EPF Scheme for those earning less than Rs 15,000 per month, for the first three years. This will leave more money in the hands of the labour," she said.

In the presence of large number of apparel exporters, Rajani explained AEPC's approach towards the package and a roadmap to achieve the targets. "We not only have to reach the target of 30 billion, that the government has set for us, but we have to go ahead and exceed that target. With our strategies and the reforms, I don't think that this is going to be very difficult," Rajani said.