J K Trust’s Employment-linked Skill Training in North-East India

“We are committed to employing 1,000+ people from north-east India within the next five years,” said Mr. Ram Bhatnagar, CEO, J K Trust, while mentioning how J K Trust is committed to creating employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for the youth in the region.

Training young people in the appropriate skills and creating opportunities for them is crucial. With the idea of “employment-linked skill training,” J K Trust has offered livelihood and economic development opportunities to youth in India through various skill development programs. To learn more about initiatives in skill development and training in the northeastern states of India, employment-linked skill training for the youth, and rural livelihood enablement, we spoke with Mr. Ram Bhatnagar, CEO, J K Trust (a social Initiative from Raymond).

Below are a few excerpts from our conversation; you can watch the full video interview on our YouTube channel.

J K Trust initiatives in skill development in north-east India

With a vision to create opportunities for the local people of the northeastern states of India, J K Trust has set up a skill development centre in Nagaland. Speaking about the initiatives in skilling and how there is a huge potential for the youth of the north-eastern states to get an opportunity to work in the industries, Mr. Ram Bhatnagar said, “Our plan is to expand our footprint all through the north-eastern region and we began our journey with Nagaland. The first batch of 25 students graduated from the skill training centre in Nagaland and are now working in different cities in India.

As a skilled workforce is the primary need of any industry, once the youth is sufficiently trained and once there is a pool of skilled workforce, it will encourage industries to migrate to these areas and set up their centres.

While sharing the plan to establish more training centres in the north-eastern region, Mr. Ram Bhatnagar said, “Initially, we planned to set up five skill development centres in Nagaland. The government of Nagaland responded quickly, and assisted us in providing space for the establishment of these centres”.

Through these training centres, J K Trust would like to provide the people of the northeastern states the exposure to working in a world-class facility and at the same time impart skills that can empower them to become entrepreneurs.

Contributing to rural livelihood enablement and employability in India

J K Trust has been in the field of rural livelihood and women empowerment for the past three decades and has set up numerous training centres for training in employment-linked skills across India. The idea was to create income-generation opportunities through skill development, and farm and non-farm-based activities.

Talking about mentorship and guidance for the youth of the northeastern regions, Mr. Ram Bhatnagar pointed out that it is critical to guide and mentor the youth and to train them in appropriate skills required in various fields or industry sectors.

Reasons for focusing on the north-eastern states of India

• The north-eastern states have high levels of literacy
• A majority of the population speaks English
• Lack of industrial presence
• Lack of infrastructure
• There are no other opportunities for people other than to work in the government sector or in agriculture
• Disconnected from the mainland of India
• There haven’t been many CSR initiatives in the region

Why should the youth work in a different city/ state

Strongly advocating that youth of the northeastern states should consider working in a different city/ state for at least for few years, Mr. Ram Bhatnagar noted the following benefits –

Benefits of working in a different state/city

• Builds confidence while moving and working in a different city
• Provides an opportunity to work in a large facility and learn about the product quality
• Encourages the youth to set up something on their own with similar product quality in their towns and states
• Opens up several employment and entrepreneurship opportunities

Opportunities to partner with J K Trust

There is a need for partners who can support our initiatives in the northeastern region of India. For example – Nagaland’s skill development initiative is supported by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Silver Spark Apparel Lt.

Mr. Ram Bhatnagar expressed, “Many initiatives will undoubtedly require the assistance of partners. We invite and urge everyone to work together in any way they can because not everything cannot be accomplished on its own and will need the support of like-minded organisations and individuals.”