Income enhancement
Women who completed the 2020–21 apparel training and took up contract stitching at home earn ₹4,000–₹15,000 a month according to their capacity.
Vocational & livelihood training
Market-oriented skill training for sustainable employment and livelihood creation — delivered as a DDU-GKY project implementing agency.
18,592
Skill-training beneficiaries
80%+
Trainees placed in employment
4,198
Youth trained, seven reported years
DDU-GKY
Project implementing agency (PIA)
Understanding
What vocational & livelihood training means
What is vocational & livelihood training?
Vocational and livelihood training equips people with practical skills and competencies that translate directly into employment opportunities and income generation.
Our training is market-oriented — aligned with current industry demands and local economic opportunities, so participants can secure sustainable livelihoods on completion. Skill training has been part of the trust's work since the Entrepreneur Development Programme courses of 2002–03, when rural women in Dindigul were trained in mushroom cultivation, vermicompost, beautician work and toy making. The 2018–19 annual report records 18,592 skill-training beneficiaries — overwhelmingly women trained as sewing machine operators — and states that more than 80% of candidates found employment in the leading industries of their districts. Across the seven years in which the reports give a separate youth figure, 4,198 young people were trained.
Coodu Trust is a Project Implementing Agency for DDU-GKY — the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana of the Ministry of Rural Development — and an empanelled training partner of NSDC and TNSDC, the National and Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporations. It is the one programme in which the reports describe the trust as an implementing agency rather than a coordinating or support agency.
Under DDU-GKY the trust trains rural youth aged 18 to 35 in Basic Sewing Machine Operation for the textile and garment industry, and follows them into work: 624 young people trained in Karur district, 582 placed in textile mills in Karur and Tiruppur, with post-placement counselling and follow-up to help them hold the job.
- Market-oriented skills
- Industry partnerships
- Entrepreneurship development
- Recognised certification
- Job placement support
Why this work matters
The challenge on the ground — and our answer
The challenge
Training that never becomes a job
Generic courses leave rural youth with certificates the market doesn't ask for — and no employer at the end of them.
Our response
Train for what the market demands
Every course is aligned with current industry demand and local economic opportunities — in 2018–19 more than 80% of candidates went into employment in the leading industries of their districts.
The challenge
Rural youth locked out of formal work
Without recognised credentials or industry connections, formal employment stays out of reach for rural young people.
Our response
Government-recognised pathways
As a DDU-GKY Project Implementing Agency and an empanelled NSDC and TNSDC training partner, we deliver certifications aligned to national and state standards.
The challenge
Incomes too low to build on
Low, irregular earnings keep families from investing in their own future.
Our response
Skills that raise earnings
Of 426 women trained in the apparel sector in 2020–21, 303 were placed in mills in Karur and Tiruppur; the rest took contract stitching at home and earn between ₹4,000 and ₹15,000 a month according to their capacity.
The challenge
An idea, but no business skills
Aspiring entrepreneurs stall without the business skills to turn a trade into an enterprise.
Our response
Build entrepreneurs, not just employees
Self-employment is counted as an outcome in its own right: of 208 trained under NULM in 2022–23, 145 took jobs and 63 set up on their own; nine of the 20 women trained under the Rurban Mission that year started their own work.
At a glance
The essentials
- Active since
- 2002Entrepreneur Development Programme courses in Dindigul — mushroom cultivation, vermicompost, beautician and toy making
- Skill-training beneficiaries
- 18,5922018–19 annual report, alongside 2,168 income-generation beneficiaries; more than 80% of candidates found work
- Government credential
- DDU-GKY Project Implementing AgencyMinistry of Rural Development; empanelled training partner of NSDC and TNSDC
- Project portfolio
- 10 training programmesNational, state and partner-led skill schemes, 2002–2025
- Currently delivering
- DDU-GKY skill training & placementBasic Sewing Machine Operation in Karur district for the Karur and Tiruppur textile mills
- Delivery model
- Training through to placementCertification, placement with named employers and post-placement follow-up
Track record
Project portfolio, 2002–2025
| Programme | Period | Type | Highlights | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) | 2018–2025 | Ministry of Rural Development | Project Implementing Agency. 500 beneficiaries in Karur and Dindigul (2019–20); 750 in Tamil Nadu and Thrissur, Kerala, of whom 426 women trained in apparel and 303 placed (2020–21); 624 trained and 582 placed in Karur, reported in both 2023–24 and 2024–25 | Ongoing |
| Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) | 2017–2023 | National scheme | 526 trained, 526 certified and 476 placed (2017–18); 720 beneficiaries in seven districts (2019–20); 1,045 in eight cities (2020–21); 208 trained, 145 placed and 63 self-employed in Theni, Salem, Karur, Vellore and Trichy (2022–23) | Completed |
| National Rurban Mission (NRuM / RURBAN) | 2017–2023 | National scheme | 644 trained, 644 certified and 463 placed (2017–18); 5,070 beneficiaries in Tirunelveli, Tiruvallur and Sivagangai (2019–20); 886 youths trained and 686 employed in six districts (2020–21); 20 women in Tirunelveli (2022–23) | Completed |
| Education and skill development programmes (SJ Group of Institutions) | 2021–2025 | Vocational courses | Four courses approved by Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, 56 students enrolled; 9 youths placed in hotels and 11 women trained in beauty therapy, 5 of them placed | Ongoing |
| Skill training under TAHDCO | 2021–2023 | State corporation | 20 beneficiaries in sewing machine operation, Karur (2021–22); 12 Scheduled Caste women at Mylampatti, Karur, all placed with a local company (2022–23) | Completed |
| Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation (TNSDC) | 2017–2020 | State corporation | Registered training partner with centres on the TNSDC portal; 300 trained, 291 certified and 241 placed (2017–18); 120 beneficiaries in Karur (2019–20) | Completed |
| Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) under NSDC | 2014–2018 | National scheme | 539 dairy farmers trained in Karur, Dindigul and Salem (2014–15); 560 dairy trainees of whom 461 obtained NSDC certificates (2015–16); 540 trained, 460 certified and 437 placed (2017–18) | Completed |
| Sewing machine operator training (apparel) | 2013–2016 | Training programme | 1,500 women over three months in Dindigul, Karur and Tirunelveli (2013–14); 1,200 women trained and placed through NIFT-TEA in Dindigul and Virudhunagar (2014–15); 1,000 members with coordinating agencies (2015–16) | Completed |
| Rural artisan skill development (KVIC) | 2014–2015 | National body | 1,000 beneficiaries in eight districts across five trades — bee keeping, sewing machine operation, carpentry, agarbathi and leather products, terracotta making and weaving | Completed |
| Entrepreneur Development Programme | 2002–2021 | Training programme | Mushroom cultivation, vermicompost, beautician and toy making for rural women in Dindigul (2002–03); seven-day training for 200 people in paper-bag making and value-added moringa, amla and guava products (2020–21) | Completed |
Impact
What vocational training changes
Entrepreneurship
Of the 208 people trained under NULM in 2022–23, 145 took jobs and 63 became self-employed; six of the eleven women trained in beauty therapy now run their own parlours.
Industry integration
Trainees are placed with named employers — textile mills across Karur and Tiruppur, and firms including Aisan Fabric, Imayam Garments, Mithra Enterprises and Supreme Industries.
Certification
Trainees are assessed and certified by the State Council for Vocational Training or the Sector Skill Councils — 461 of 560 dairy trainees obtained NSDC certificates in 2015–16.
Get involved
Build a skilled workforce
Support our vocational training programmes to create skilled professionals and reduce unemployment. Your partnership helps us expand training opportunities and build a competent workforce for economic growth.