IL&FS Skills is one of the initial institutions to have implemented Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana Special Projects (SGSY SP) under Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India since 2007. We have implemented 29 projects under various schemes of MoRD (SGSY SP & Himayat) and impacted 2.66 lakh rural unemployed youth with 87% placement across the country

IL&FS Skills is implementing DDU-GKY projects since last one year in 20 Institute of Skills across 3 states (Jharkhand, Tripura & Punjab) with more than 2 lakh sq ft of training space, annual capacity to train more than 8000 youth, 97 fully equipped training labs running 10 QP NOS aligned courses

Challenges

DDU-GKY scheme aims to train rural BPL youth and link them with employment in the organized sector. The key challenges faced during the implementation include identification of right candidates, making them work ready post training and providing them employment opportunities.

Since most of the trainees are school drop outs and are not used to structured training and work environment it is imperative to counsel them about their future job requirements. In many cases the employment opportunities are limited in the State where training is happening and youth are required to migrate to other States for employment, handling the post-training migration process professionally is of key importance.

Key Differentiators

As IL&FS Skills, we pay attention to the journey of every candidate from mobilisation till placement in a job. We believe in a learner centric approach towards skills training and with that approach have skilled more than 1.6 million people till date (6.5 lacs under placement linked skill development programmes) with support from Central & State Governments as well as Corporates

Our skills interventions, rest on some key principles that ensure scalability and replicability, making it a global best practice. To counter the challenges for training rural BPL youth under DDU GKY scheme, we have included the following practices in our skills value chain

1. Industry linkages and workplace exposure

We assess industry requirements and aggregate the demand for employment on quarterly basis for all job roles offered at our Institutes. Our network of 1000+ industry partners across sectors and locations links each trainee to a job. The linkages are secured before the start of the training for each batch. During the training, wherever possible, our trainees visit the industry for a first-hand experience of the workplace and industry experts are invited for guest lectures (physically or through video conferencing). This industry exposure aligns trainee expectations with job requirements

2. Mobilisation through community engagement and Gram Panchayat – Saturation Model

Our innovative community engagement activities like rozgaar rath, employment fairs, nukkad natak etc. helps us reach out to maximum beneficiaries. We follow the saturation model methodology at the Gram Panchayat level whereby our approach is to saturate the number of youth willing to enroll for training at every Gram Panchayat with the support of block level officials

3. Assessing trainee fitment by mapping job requirement with candidate aspirations through counseling and entry gate assessments

Our systematically designed trade wise selection tests on attitude, aptitude and aspirations help in defining candidate’s career journey. These also assess the skill set requirements of a candidate vis – a – vis industry requirements. For e.g a candidate willing to enroll for Industrial Sewing Machine Operator training programme will take Finger Dexterity Test, Colour Blindness Test, Pin Board test etc. which helps us assess the fitness of the candidate for that particular job role. Basis the entry gate assessment, our counsellor guides the candidate on the career progression in the selected sector

4. Show, tell & do training methodology using multimedia content

We have incorporated ‘show, tell and learning by doing’ methodology for all the training programmes. We replicate the workplace in our training environment to create a real life working experience through simulated work environment, such as sewing factories, welding workshops, a model restaurant, full service kitchen, a hospital ward and a retail store classrooms, labs and workshops. We have developed multimedia content which enables the trainee to understand the concepts better; trainer guides the trainees on step by step process followed by the trainees practicing it on machines or as role play as the case may be. This ensures standardized training methodology and increased trainee interest which caters to all types of learners: visual, auditory and kinaesthetic and enables trainees to move from the initial level of a beginner to level of proficiency

5. Holistic development to make trainees work ready

To ensure 360 degree development of trainees our domain training is supplemented with modules in functional English, digital literacy and life skills. During the training, in addition to domain skills, trainees are also sensitized on possible career progression either by opting for higher studies or gaining work experience and learning on the job. For example in Apparel sector, some of the youth have grown from being Industrial Sewing Machine Operators to Supervisors, handling a team of 20-25 employees by consistently performing well over the years. In addition, trainees are encouraged to run a library within the institutes on their own and undergo health checkups. Birthdays and festivals are celebrated to encourage trainee engagement and picnics are organized for better bonding and continuous motivation

6. Migration Support Centre and post placement mentorship support to trainees

As a case in point, when trainees from Jharkhand get employed in the apparel industry in Tamil Nadu or a Quick Service Restaurant in Delhi, our Migration Support Centers help them in many ways. During travel, trainees are accompanied by a trainer or a community engagement person. On reaching the place of employment, the local Migration Support Executive (MES) receives them at the railway station and helps them settle down at the residential facility

As the first month is critical for the trainees; they undergo lot of cultural shifts and make adjustments. Since the MES is also the relationship manager with the employer, he/she facilitates the process of enrolment, completes the documentation, and visits the place of employment regularly till the initial 30 days are completed

To support the trainees in smooth migration, we have four Migration Support Centers (MSC) operational at Delhi, Bengaluru (Karnataka), Kolkata (West Bengal) and Tirupur (Tamil Nadu)

Our dedicated call centers work 24X7, on a toll-free number. All our trainees can avail these services

7. Advocacy at grassroot level

Once the trainees complete 6 months in employment, they are awarded Skills Champion certificate. Whenever Skills Champions visit their village, we felicitate them to encourage the youth from their community for training and employment. This helps in mobilizing candidates. For instance, in Jharkhand, where we have completed more than a year of operations, 10-15% of our trainees have come through references from our alumni network

The SOPs under the DDU GKY scheme are clearly defined and provide guidance for step by step implementation. Both the trainees and employers need to be kept at the core of the training methodology. Employers need to be engaged from the initial phase to ensure healthy placement ratios and retention of trainees. A thorough financial planning and monitoring system is also a prerequisite.