NGO Working for Skill Development in India

After 74 years of independence, India still struggles to eradicate one of its major issues of poverty. Throwing light on why the problem of poverty still persists, one can understand it's mostly due to rampant unemployment in our country. The complex cycle of one issue leading to another always ends up with unemployment and poor financial conditions. When a child of an urban middle-class family goes to school and gets a college degree, he or she has made the cut to a decent lifestyle if not a luxurious one. The school and college education gives them a head start to acquire the relevant skills required for the job industry.Now think of a child who is born in poverty.

His and his family’s primary concern is not acquisition of education or skills but food. This is where we see an evident gap between the lives of rich and poor or rural and urban. With the world moving at such a fast pace in terms of technology and innovation, a prominent portion of our workforce remains unskilled in keeping up with the changes. The government of India launched the Skill India campaign in 2015.

The campaign has attracted a lot of attention and has contributed to the skill development of the unskilled youth of the country. This has been made possible due to the constant efforts of NGOs for skill development.Why is there a need for skilled development programmes?India has the largest youth population in the world. Unlike China, whose major portion of the population is aged, India is full of youth strength.

But, the potential of this largest young workforce remains untapped due to a lack of relevant education or skills for the job sector. One of the fastest-growing economies in the worldIndia is currently growing at a very fast pace. Multinational companies see a positive future for their units in the country. The amount of exposure is unlimited. Thus, the country needs to produce industry-fit individuals to meet the demand.

To fill the gap between the supply and demand for the job sector is one of the reasons for providing skill development training to the unemployed youth. For poverty alleviationThe existing illiterate youth can always benefit from these skill development programmes. These programmes help an individual to become proficient in any of the vocational sectors like leather industry, plumbing, electrical repairing, data entry, computer operation, etc. By completing such programmes, the individual can either start working or get promoted in their existing jobs for better pay and life. The point being, people don’t have to resort to begging or engaging in illegal acts to earn a decent livelihood. 

NGOs for skill developmentEasy access to programmesThe NGOs of the country have been working tirelessly to build a skilled youth suitable for the job sector and eligible for a decent life. These NGOs work for making the underprivileged youth of the country self-reliant. The campaigns run by these NGOs are often free of cost or can be availed for a nominal fee. The impact of the completion of these programmes is everlasting and beneficial for youngsters.Grass-root level workThe NGOs reach where the government can’t. Their work is grass-root level and thus covers more ground with extensive focus. Often training centres are set up in urban slums or remote rural areas for training the youth there. These centres have qualified volunteers to impart a proper understanding of the programmes as well as the courses. Certification programmesOn completion, the individuals are provided with certificates which are Internationally relevant and viable. The programmes provided by these NGOs open doors for many young individuals who want to make a decent living and live a respectable life.

Contribution in providing better standard of livingTheir aim is to bring a major shift in numbers of youngsters working for the unorganised sector of employment to the organised sector. This provides them with job security and other perks like paid leaves, health insurance, and many others. Soft skills training for a dynamic worldIt is need of the hour to turn our unskilled workforce to a skilled one for attaining a win-win situation for the country as well as the individuals. NGOs have been doing their part quite successfully for the same.

The skill development programme run by NGOs not only includes vocational training in industries like leather, electronics, mobile repairing, and several others but also trains the youth not just to operate newest technology but be proficient in it. This allows them to stay relevant in this fast pacing dynamic world.There are many NGO for skill development programmes. It is significant to choose a trustworthy one which is dedicated to its cause. The NIIT foundation has been working tirelessly for setting up such skill development centres for the unskilled and underprivileged youth in urban slums for bringing about a change in the community and the country as a whole.