Skill development and livelihood

In villages, unskilled youths are forced to migrate for work to bigger cities because of less opportunity in local areas. Many people with disabilities could not earn their livelihood because of less opportunities in the villages. Widow and deserted women are also looked down in the society.

To empower them all, it is necessary that they earn their own livelihood and to provide them with various skills required in an individual to be able to earn in the local market, NBJK with the kind support of Axis Bank Foundation, Stichting Kinderhulp Bodhgaya, UTI Mutual Fund, SBI Life, USHA International Ltd. and Youth 4 Jobs, has started Rozgar Training Centre.

These training centres are at Hazaribag, Koderma, Ramgarh, Ranchi, East Singhbhum, Dhanbad, Giridih, Deoghar, Dumka, Khunti and Gaya districts of Bihar and Jharkhand. Centres provide quality practical learning in streams like basic computer, BPO, bed side patient attendant, mobile phone repairing, housekeeping, beautician, electrician, bike repair, motor driving, agriculture, tailoring etc including spoken English & life skills.

Last year, these centres have trained 6330 youths cumulatively, out of which 3485 are engaged with jobs as per the skills they learnt there. Also 180 youths with disabilities were provided such training and 150 have been placed already. Skill support program on tailoring is being run in villages of 37 districts of Bihar and Jharkhand with help of Usha International Ltd. that involved 492 marginalized rural women to conduct Usha Silai Schools where 1673 girls could complete the foundation course of tailoring at doorstep.

What is the need?

Bihar and Jharkhand are most backward states of India. Climate change results in erratic & uncertain rainfall leading to drought situation every year or alternate year. This forces the youths either to migrate to big cities or to involve in criminal activities or extremist organization.

In Jharkhand, employment in the state stands lowest in the country at 63.8% of main workers to all workers. Conversely, the share of marginal workers (36.2%) is the highest in the country. Of those who are employed, only 4.3% are employed in industrial sector. There is a great risk that unemployed youth may join some criminal/extremist group and may harm the whole nation.
WHO estimates that about 10% of the population has some types of disability with 3-4 % having sever disability. Person with disabilities are most sufferers. They are not easily accepted in the society and over 80% of person with disabilities do not get opportunity to earn.

Similarly, Widow, Deserted Women and Women with Disabilities are looked down in society. It has often been found that they mostly stay at their parent’s home and hardly move out of their house.

To increase the social status of these youths, person with disabilities, widow, deserted women and women with disabilities, it is necessary that they are engaged in some livelihood activities. Therefore, employability training is a most urgent need of the hour.

Our Approach and Achievements

With the aim of providing market led vocational training to rural youths, person with disabilities, widow, deserted women and women with disabilities, NBJK with the kind support of Axis Bank Foundation, Stichting Kinderhulp Bodhgaya, USHA International Ltd. and Youth 4 Jobs, has started Rozgar Training Centre to provide market led vocational trainings.
Youths are getting training on streams like basic computer, bed side patient attendant, mobile phone repairing, housekeeping, BPO, hospitality, bike repair, motor driving, beautician, electrician, tailoring, agriculture etc. including spoken English & life skills training. After training they are facilitated for placement in organised sectors.
Women, Deserted Women and Women with disabilities are being provided training on sewing with the support of USHA International Ltd. After the training they are provided with USHA sewing machine. After learning sewing, they also teach girls/women in their villages.

11 centres have been opened at Hazaribag, Koderma, Ramgarh, Ranchi, Khunti, Giridih, Deoghar, Dumka, Dhanbad, East Singhbhum and Gaya districts of Jharkhand and Bihar. Last year, these centres have trained 6330 youths cumulatively, out of which 3485 are engaged with jobs as per the skills they learnt there.

Tailoring is being run in villages of 37 districts of Bihar and Jharkhand that involved 492 marginalized rural women to conduct Usha Silai Schools where 1673 girls could learn the art of tailoring at doorstep.

Achievements of the projects are:

1. Providing Sustainable Livelhood to Youths

• Employability

2. Usha Silai School

Still much to do…

• Out of total population 26.9 million in Jharkhand, the population of youth in Jharkhand is 10.2 million (5.3 male & 4.9 Female) out of which 7.7 million are rural and 2.5 million are urban youth.
• Available formal training capacity of the country- 2.3 million, so there is a gap of 18.7 million. Among persons of age group of 15 years & above only 2% have any technical degree/diploma/certificate