LIVELIHOOD & SUSTAINABILITY
WGF’s Livelihood & Sustainability Council’s (LSC) mission is to enhance rural economy through co-creating and advancing rural enterprises, using technology innovations and scientific processes, sharing best practices and developing techniques to foster trade and employment for rural populations.
WHEELS Livelihood Initiative: “Samarth” - Opening Employment Doors for India’s Rural Youth
Problem Description & Solution Approach:
Problem/Challenge:
India’s average age is around 28.4 years old, making it one of the youngest countries in the world. The youthful demographic presents great potential for economic growth and innovation. However, about 68% of India’s youth are from rural areas with limited employment opportunities. The education system at a vast majority of these schools and colleges is not fully aligned with the corporate or job market standards, placing these young applicants at a significant disadvantage compared to their urban counterparts. As a result, India is experiencing a large pool of unemployed youth. While some live directionless lives in rural areas, those who migrate to urban areas have trouble finding employment, hence resorting to unorganized labor markets with minimal pay.
Solution:
The Raah Foundation, a partner of WHEELS, has led the effort to support these disadvantaged applicants through the program “Samarth”. Samarth is based on Raah’s existing strength and expertise in identifying gaps in the development process, offering sustainable solutions to transform the employment situation for this youth population. The program aims to provide vocational, social, and technical training for economically disadvantaged youth between the ages of 18 and 25. In addition, hard and soft skills are taught in this process, curating them towards retail, ITES, manufacturing, and customer support in banking and insurance. English and email communication, sales and marketing, typing, Tally (a popular accounting software), GST, and Microsoft Office are more skills taught through Samarth.
Technology/Innovation:
The Raah Foundation has employed numerous innovative aspects to create a cost-effective and scalable model. Firstly, Samarth delivers intensive 5-week training in skills like Intuit QuickBooks, Microsoft Office, and resume-building. Additionally, they emphasize business ethics such as meeting commitments, punctuality, and maintaining professional relationships with managers and colleagues.
Another innovative aspect of Samarth is its “job assurance” initiative, which guarantees a participant’s job upon program completion. By leveraging relationships with local businesses, Samarth has secured agreements to hire their trained youth, eliminating the need for interviews, and saving the companies time “Technology-enabled Philanthropy for Rural Transformation” and money, hence the cost-effectiveness.
These businesses often include banks, retailers, credit cooperatives, and microfinancing groups close to the participants’ homes, making employment accessible, known as the “placement cell”.
Lastly, the Raah Foundation has collaborated with a corporate social responsibility model (CSR) entity to secure initial funding for new training centers and subsidize the cost of training. As the program’s credibility grows and the initial costs are covered, participants repay a portion of their monthly salary, around Rs. 1,000, to support the program’s scalability.
Achievements to-date
With locations thriving in Nagpur, Mumbai, Pune, and more, the Raah Foundation’s groundbreaking initiative of Samarth has already empowered 1,480 students by March 2024. 79% of these students have completed their training, with 77% obtaining placements and 8% advancing to higher studies. Through its more intensive bespoke program, Samarth has also opened doors for these young students for new employment categories such as digital journalism and manufacturing. Impressively, the average salary of a student after Samarth is Rs. 1,50,500 per year.
Scale of Opportunity
Based in Maharashtra with 14 centers including the lively cities of Mumbai and Pune, the Raah Foundation, in collaboration with WHEELS, aims to expand Samarth’s scalable model across every Indian state. WHEELS will extend this model to its vast education livelihood partners ecosystem. Additionally, WHEELS is encouraging IIT Alumni to leverage their connections and networks to promote Samarth’s scalable, cost-effective, and innovative model nationwide, changing the lives of India’s rural youth forever. Learn more about at Raah’s Skills Training page.
WGF leaders providing oversight:
Ratan Agarwal
Call To Action
- * Here is an opportunity for the affluent IIT alumni to come together to help scale the mission and create a lasting impact in the country we live.
- * Active evangelizing with your employer/network to open doors for more corporate commitments for quality IT Services and community transformations therefrom.
