“Matching job creation with industry demand is the key to end unemployment”
– Narendra Modi
Large sections of the existing workforce have little or no job skills. This makes them unemployable and enables them to earn very little despite existing opportunities. For example, an unskilled construction worker will put in ten hours of work in a day and make minimum wage. The same amount of hours put in by a skilled labour, will generate 40% more income in comparison to unskilled labour.
| Over 62% of the population is the working-age group. Yet, only 4.69% of the Indian population has undergone formal skills training |
| 93% of India’s workers work in the unorganised sector and acquire skills through informal channels and lack formal certification |
| About 89% of the 15-59 year olds have had no vocational training |
The Challenge
Nearly 300 million people in India live in extreme poverty. The reason for this is low earnings due to the lack of skills. Due to extensive migration of rural population to urban areas in search for work, there is an abundance of labour as well as job opportunities. However if these people migrating to urban areas do not have any skills, it becomes hard for them to find employment that enables them to earn a liveyhood. The current training capacity is a fraction of the 12.8 million new entrants into the workforce every year. Therefore access to skills programs becomes a major challenge.
Our Endeavour
Making communities self sustaining and resilient by teaching them the skills they need to fend for themselves
What we do
According to the 11th five year plan report of Planning Commission, 82 % of the construction sector workforce are unskilled and belong to informal sector of the economy. They continue to remain the ones who are most underpaid and have a poor job security. We offer training in safe practices in masonry and construction systems with a view to provide efficient and high quality service. Our courses are oriented towards masons, small scale and petty contractors and youth who would like to pursue their careers in masonry.
We offer multiple courses that the mason can take up varying with level of masonry skill he/she possess. There are short term courses focusing on providing training in basics areas like masonry, shuttering carpentry, steel work and plastering. These trainings also involve value added training to the existing masons like preparation of quotations, financial management, ‘Disaster and Risk Reduction’ techniques, construction safety, wastage reduction, labour management and also new development in construction technology. The advanced courses are mainly for experienced mason and it would focus on training incumbents on repair/Retrofit of buildings. The courses are provided at a very minimal cost.
Most of trainings are designed as a judicious combination of practical and class room awareness sessions for better learning and easy understanding. All incumbents are awarded certification on successful completion of the course.
Women even today continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in the informal economy of the country. They often face serious constraints related to work viz. lack of continuity, job insecurity, wage discrimination, gender harassment etc. Special focus on women construction workers is aimed at empowering them by developing their skills which will lead to enhanced quality of life, raised economic strength, increased efficiency and bargaining power.
We aim to help women boost their skills, find employment and subsequently improve their quality of life. We conduct training courses in plumbing and masonry for women. The women who participate in the program challenge multiple social and traditional barriers as they acquired skills in fields which are mostly considered “manly” and practiced largely by men in their community.
Most of the trainees have limited formal education. However, this is not seen as a hindrance to learning. Rather, more creative ways are taken up to impart the training. The programmes run with a combination of audio visual lectures, presentations and practical sessions that enables women from all levels of education to grasp the concept. We not only provide classroom training, but also engaged the women in field visits and internships, giving them opportunities to learn on ground.