RITES limited and IRFC (railway PSUs) established a vocational cum skill development training centre, Udaipur for Vishvas Sansthan, an NGO for the development of women and youth of economically weaker sections of Southern Rajasthan. This centre will train workers especially in an unorganised sector for employable skills. A majority of Indian workforce do not possess marketable skills, which is an impediment in getting decent employment and improving their economic condition.
This centre will become a role model for the rest of the nation in terms of providing vocational skills development and training to school dropouts and existing workers. It will utilise the facilities available at the centre and develop their competency and assessment standards. It will create an impact to the lives of India’s potential workforce and help convert the CSR initiative into a movement into other neighboring towns.
With a covered area of about 36,059 square feet, the centre will benefit about 12,000 families of seven districts and enhance per capita income of the family (up to 50 per cent) by imparting vocational training and skills for self employment or employment in the industry. So far these youth and women were imparted training and skills scattered in various villages with limited or virtually no infrastructure.
This ultra modern training centre will integrate their efforts and provide them a place of their own and a launching platform for marketing their products towards sustainable livelihood. It is a CSR initiative of RITES and IRFC and will also provide a fillip for socio economic development of the area.
The centre was recently inaugurated by the Railway Minister Manoj Sinha. He said that these centers will enable women to showcase their skills and help raise their living standards. He commended the efforts of both RITES/IRFC and Vishvas Sansthan in partnering towards this successful mission which would become a benchmark for similar projects in other satellite towns all over India.
Rajeev Mehrotra, CMD, RITES while speaking on the occasion, expressed his plan to integrate RITES CSR activities in the network of India’s rural infrastructure and skill development. He was of the opinion that mere raising of a structures should not be the only criteria.
A continuous monitoring should be embedded in the action plan to ensure physical verification of progress and actual output of the project to steer the ‘Make in India’ drive into successful ventures.