MGNF – Decoding district level skilling and entrepreneurship

Whether ideating new skilling opportunities or entrepreneurial opportunities in the districts, these MGN Fellows have outdone themselves. Let us now explore what the MGN Fellows placed in Gujarat have to say.

Gujarat

Gaurav Gupta

Bhavnagar, Gujarat

“The classroom component of MGNF, which we call “Academic Module” expands beyond the skill development sector to give a more comprehensive public policy perspective to look at impact creation.

The significant time spent as MGN Fellow is in the allotted district. My district of immersion is Bhavnagar in Gujarat. Coming from a non-Gujarati background, it was a fresh perspective building for me. With COVID-19 disrupting the skilling scenario upside down, it was both a challenge and an opportunity to make a difference.

Bhavnagar is home to the world’s largest ship-recycling yard – Alang. Given my own waste management startup experience, it gave me a head start to analyze things closely. The livelihood opportunities are well distributed across all three sectors of the economy. Natural farming, agri-allied occupations, and food processing units have a good pace.

I was fortunate to work on a project related to the blockchain technology application in the supply chain of organic farm produce. The NRLM in the district is very proactive; we trained three SHGs in converting waste flex from hoardings into reusable eco-friendly bags.”

Varshini Kudaligi

Dahod, Gujarat

“My District Immersion through MGNF is in Dahod. It is the last district of Gujarat and lies on the border of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan with a Hindi-speaking majority. It has been a year into the fellowship and the District Collector is my assigned mentor. I am currently engaged in two major projects in the district.

Dahod being included in the aspirational district programme, I work with the district administration in improving the said indicators provided by the NITI Ayog. Most of my work with this programme involves mobilization, ensuring implementation, and creating roadmaps relating to the skilling initiatives of the district.  I am also involved in the SDG programme.

So far, I have been involved in taking follow-ups and creating action plans to improve the numbers on the negative indicators. There are almost 17 indicators in the SDG programme which need to have a customized plan of implementation for each. These plans need individual discussion sessions with each of the concerned departments and their respective officers.

My role in these projects also involves regular follow-ups and instantaneous problem-solving. I have so far collaborated with multiple departments in the government and interacted with different private stakeholders due to this fellowship. It has been a year of a joyride, with immense learning and contributing to society.”

Rutu Tekwani

Gandhinagar, Gujarat

“My District Immersion through MGNF is in Gandhinagar district. I took up a range of activities from conducting industry surveys to talking to various stakeholders to develop an evidence-based action plan.

From trying to address the gap for skilled industrial manpower in the district to designing plans for setting up micro-enterprises for the livelihood generation of women, each project I have been working on comes with its own unique set of challenges.

Addressing each of these unique challenges under the mentorship of IIMB, along the way is what enriches the journey. The best part about being an MGNF is that it gives us a chance to study specific grassroots level challenges, understand the local economy and culture, and design need-based interventions accordingly.”