A STEP TOWARDS SKILL DEVELOPMENT
AASRA, the
social service wing of NITR has been working from years to uplift the poor. Our
volunteers go around Rourkela and teach underprivileged children. But success
isn’t restricted to classroom scoring. Many of these kids are left without jobs
after their 12th. Many are known to leave studies after their 12th,
find petty jobs and work on a wage, or get married. That is when we realized
that we needed something to help these kids secure a bright future.
The Pradhan
Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana(PMKVY) is an initiative by the Government of India
under the Ministry of Skill Development and Enterpreneurship. It aims to
prepare today’s youth in Industry-relevant skill training that will help them
in securing a better livelihood. To help some children who had fewer resources,
we at AASRA identified a few kids from our workplaces who could be potential
benefactors of this program. Since we go around a lot of places in Rourkela,
the search wasn’t difficult for us. We sat down with them and talked about the
pros of this program, how they could benefit from this and get good jobs in the
future. Trades under this program were discussed with these students, to help
identify their interests or skills they could take up in the future as a
career. Many children from Sector-21 and OSAP Colony fulfilled the necessary
requirements
enlisted by the program. AASRA visited Chhend center on the 8th
of April, because Chhend has been under PMKVY for a while now. After thoroughly
examining the facilities, placement records, course curriculum etc. available,
we came to a conclusion that the program would indeed benefit these
underprivileged children in building them a fruitful career in the future. The
kids we teach are no less than family for us, and we were ready to do anything
for their sake.
On the 10th
of April, 2017, the Central Manager of the PMKVY Center at Chhend visited
sector 21 for the counselling and survey process for the project. In a brief
meeting that was held with the children, they were provided the details of the whole
program. A final list of students with their respective trades/courses of
interest was made. The Central Manager promised to return in two days with the
brochures and forms in order to complete the formalities necessary. A special
mention to the zonal head of this program, who assured AASRA personally that he
would take care of these children for us; thus supporting us as a collaborator
in achieving our motive, to provide these kids the career they deserve. He
praised us for our work, told us that what we were doing for these kids is
noble. Such positive remarks get us going. They fuel our passion to work and
serve for a better tomorrow. These children were all-set to have a successful
career now, thanks to PMKVY.
With a lot
of joy, we’d like you to know that on the 1st of May, 2017, the
enrollment of the enlisted candidates was finally done for PMKVY and Skill
Mission Program of the Government of India. This was just the first batch of
candidates of AASRA enrolled under Placement based skill development programs.
We at AASRA, along with the skill center wish to help many more children beyond
our workplaces, in hopes of helping more children. We know that there are
thousands out there in need of help and direction. Even something as big as
changing the world begins with one small step at a time, and we had taken our
first steps.
On 21 May
2017, a few of our volunteers visited the PMKVY center at Chhend with the
selected trainees from OSAP and Sector-21. Some kids would be trained in
Hospitality(Hotel Management), some as solar panel technicians and some as
industrial sewing machine operators. The trainees seemed glad after visiting
their classrooms, labs and hostel areas. A seminar was held on the 28th
of May at NIT Rourkela, where the state head of PMKVY Centers and other
officers were present. The attendees, mostly students of class 10, 12 and +3 or
above were told of this program and its benefits. They learned the importance
of skill development and were motivated towards achieving their goal. We’re pretty
sure that these kids will now work hard to acheieve this goal. We hope that
these kids follow the footsteps of their seniors and work hard in building
themselves a successful career.
You’ll be
very happy to know that a total of 4 people started training in their course on
the 1st of June, and the rest will begin anytime now. AASRA thanks
each and every one of its volunteers who made it possible for these lesser
privileged children to train for a bright future.
This is really good news. The children of Sec-21 would greatly benefit from this initiative. The job done by students of NIT-Rkl under the banner of Aasra is commendable. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good up !! God bless..
ReplyDelete