New Delhi, August 2023: Ambuja Foundation, an independent, pan-India development organization, has joined hands with Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) to upskill the youth of mining areas in Gadchandur and Korpana of Chandrapur region, to make them job ready. Through this collaboration, Ambuja Foundation will train 72 young aspirants in welding, and 60 young people in general duty assistant profile to get employed in hospitals.

A 24-year-old revolutionary from Chirawa, Rajasthan, is taking on the likes of TVS and Bajaj – leaders in India’s competitive 2-wheeler segment – by kickstarting his own e-scooter assembly business.

On the occasion of World Youth Skills Day, held on 17th July every year, ACF’s SEDI team organized a virtual event showcasing rural youth who are first generation skilled workers in their family.

Ambuja Foundation’s SEDI Chandrapur won the Best ITI Award under the Nagpur division awarded by the Department of Skill, Employment, Entrepreneurship & Innovation. There are over 870 ITIs part of the Nagpur division, out of which SEDI Chandrapur was the only one to win the award as a Private ITI.

Supporting the Skill India directive, Ambuja Foundation’s SEDI program (Skill & Entrepreneurship Development Institute) has now trained over 1,00,000 rural youth till date, creating a skilled workforce for various industries and helping tackle rural unemployment.

Chandrakant Sahu is one of our successful trainees from SEDI. Mr. Chandrakant Sahu is a resident of Paraspai Viilage in Dharsiwa. Belonging to an economically backward family, Chandrakant became very disappointed when he had to discontinue his studies due to financial constraints faced by his family. As part of a joint family with very small agricultural land holdings, Chandrakant started working as an electrical helper under a contractor. Despite having worked as an electrical helper for a year, he did not have an experience certificate, which restricted his professional growth.

Priyanka Sahu was a goal-oriented girl, but due to her family background could not complete her schooling and was married off early. As a mother of 2 living in a joint family, she used to stitch her own clothes at home to earn extra money. She later came to know about the Sewing training program at SEDI and planned to build a career in sewing. During her 3 months of training, she learned a lot of new things like how to make a suit, blouse, and shirt. She also upgraded her public speaking skills through the soft skill classes and with newfound confidence, Priyanka is now an entrepreneur and has her own boutique.

“No one would have dreamt that Harbinder Kumar would one day be working in the Ropar District Court House. But that’s exactly what this 24 year old, mildly intellectually challenged young man is doing - and he is loving it!

“Shamsher was our first child and you won’t believe how I was dancing with joy at his birth. But we could sense something was not right while he was growing up. Finally, my wife and I accepted that Shamsher was different.

“I love working for myself. Every day I open my shop and stand with pride, looking at my sign board and the business I’ve created – It’s hard to believe it’s mine! See, I was a high school dropout – as an only son I felt a huge pressure to help my parents in some way.

“I grew up watching my mother stitch clothes and scrub floors till her hands were red raw, just so we could survive. I wanted to pursue higher studies but there was just no money for that. So I took a course in Smartphone Repair and a fire was lit in my belly.

Aiming to equip rural youth with skills for livelihoods, Ambuja Foundation, working in rural livelihood and youth employment, has joined hands with Sir Mathuradas Vissanji Education Trust to upgrade its automotive training program. The Education Trust has upgraded the skill training infrastructure in four of its Skill & Entrepreneurship Development Institutes (SEDI) locations including Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh), Jaitaran (Rajasthan), Sanand (Gujarat) and Farakka (West Bengal). This partnership focuses on advancement of the existing automotive training centres with BS6 technology labs and an upgrade of curriculum as per the market demand, to help improve the employability of trainees.