Halfway between Jodhpur and Bikaner, on the edge of the Thar Desert, lies the city of Nagaur. Its main industries include spices and tourism, and youth in the area primarily turn to agriculture for jobs and a future.

In an absorbing conversation with Thrive, Ravi Nayse, GM – Skill Development at Ambuja Foundation outlines the work A mbuja Foundation has been doing to enable rural youth to have a prosperous future.

By pooling the resources of different stakeholders, Ambuja Foundation has been able to swiftly scale its Skill & Entrepreneurship Development Institute programme across 11 states. Working in collaboration with Government and Corporate Partners, Ambuja Foundation has helped to grow the programme from 1 centre in 2006 to 33 centres in 2019.

When Leena first joined SEDI, she was the only person from her village, Hathbandh to do so. Ridiculing her, the neighbours made fun of her efforts - "Look at her attending an institute that promises a job after just 3 months of training!" they would laugh. But she was quietly confident that her time at Ambuja Foundation's Skill & Entrepreneurship Development Institute would soon deliver results.

The pandemic has exposed just how vulnerable India's labour force is. An estimated 450 million internal migrant workers make up 92 percent of the labour force in India - with the majority of them hailing from rural India.

While the number of Covid 19 cases in India is on an upward trend, the number of missed opportunities for the youth is also on a rise; especially with the number of educational hours being lost owing to the lockdown.

Ambuja Foundation's Skill & Entrepreneurship Development Institutes (SEDI) in West Bengal, has partnered with TVS Motors as an Industry Partner to help train and place rural youth in the automobile sector at TVS Motor.

India is home to over 54% of young people, making it one of the youngest nations in the world.

Ambuja Foundation's Skill & Entrepreneurship Development Institutes (SEDI) in West Bengal, has partnered with TVS Motors and Castrol India as an Industry Partner to help train and place rural youth in the automobile sector.

In order to ensure a safe and healthy work environment for SEDI graduates, Ambuja Foundation has placed high priority in promoting Health & Safety (H&S) amongst SEDI trainees to help them to recognize safety hazards and correct them, enable them to understand best safety practices and expectation, and ensure the use of safety equipment.

When a Skill Training Centre is established in a community, what is the ripple effect? How does it affect the broader community, beyond the individuals who study there? To answer these pressing questions, Ambuja Foundation decided to measure the Social Return Of Investment of 6 SEDI training centres, namely Sankrail, Nagaur, Chirawa, Kodinar, Dadri and Chandrapur, between 2015 - 2018.

World Youth Skills Day was celebrated with gusto and in style across SEDI locations, but at the forefront was SEDI Bhatapara, launching the first ever 'women only' mason training batch, for women who are working as mason laborers or as an MNREGA laborers to develop their skills and provide them with better options for advancement.