Enhancing Livelihoods Option of the Youth through Vocational Training
Rajasthan state has an estimated labour force of 280 lakh which is growing at the rate of 2.2 percent per annum and the employment growth currently is only 1.1 %. Identifying the need to increase the employability of the youth and to provide them with an alternative to an agriculture-based livelihood, the Ambuja Cement Foundation set up Skill and Entrepreneurship Development Institutes (SEDIs) in 2010. The main objective of these institutes is to bridge the gap by providing skill-based training to youth in rural and semi-urban areas.
The Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation supports the Ambuja Cement Foundation in running the SEDI in Chirawa, Rajasthan. The Foundation provides financial support to the institute, enabling it to provide vocational training courses to the youth who live in the villages around Chirawa. The skill development courses at this Institute are designed to match the requirements of the job industry in that particular region. The Institute offers 15 trades for skill development in technical and non-technical areas, with the goal of facilitating immediate job placements.
With the support of the Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation, the SEDI in Chirawa has trained more than 1000 candidates, enabling them to become front desk assistants, diesel mechanics, mobile-repair technicians, beauticians, electricians, and hospitality professionals. In the year 2016-2017, two of female trainees were given Rajasthan state’s “Skill Icon” award by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan Smt.Vasundhara Raje Sindhiya as recognition.
The Ambuja Cement Foundation initially started working with a few rural communities around the Ambuja Cement Plant in Gujarat. Today, the Foundation works in 928 villages in 12 states across 20 locations, with a mission to energise, involve and enable communities to realise their potential. The Foundation’s areas of focus include water resource management, agro-based livelihoods, education, health, skill development, women’s empowerment, infrastructural support and disaster relief.
The objective is to bridge the gap of skills by providing access to skill training opportunities with a holistic aim to impart life skills necessary for improving quality of line. The project also encourages the entrepreneurial spirit among the youth in the villages by way assisting to set up their own entreprises.