Skill Foundation

Photo: Prakhar Pandey

The Make in India dream clearly rests on skilling the large unskilled and under-skilled youth of India. Considering that over 65 per cent of the Indian population is below 35 years of age, it is perhaps not a day too early for the country to take on Skill Development in a big way. In March, the Narendra Modi government is set to launch a new Skill Development policy, with a view to skilling nearly 500 million youth over the next decade, as per the needs of industry – which is expected to aggressively ramp up production and capacity in existing and new projects. Currently the employment generation in the country is a little higher in the Services sector, which employs about 28 per cent of the workforce; the Manufacturing sector employs 24 per cent. Modi’s dream is to sizably increase the Manufacturing sector’s footprint in the employment market. This evidently entails a structural change in the quality and quantity of training and skilling. In India today, while the government can create the opportunities through a well-defined and supportive policy, a big responsibility for Skill Development will rest on the able shoulders of the private sector. The Modi government has created a separate Ministry for Skill Development, which is facilitating the framing of guidelines for the training and skilling of the youth.

Even before the introduction of the mandatory CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) scheme, enlightened organisations like DLF Foundation had envisioned building India’s human and social capital by nurturing various communities through some well thought out initiatives. Skill Development has been one of its prime intervention areas. ‘Skilling India to Make in India’ is the mantra. DLF Foundation head, Gayatri Paul is steering the Group’s ambitious plan to impart appropriate skills to the unemployed youth. With over 13 years of experience working in various social organisations, Ms Paul, a Law and a Management graduate, has good and appropriate knowledge in the area of social welfare. Her expertise lies in designing innovative models for social development in the areas of Education, Training and Healthcare. She has been associated with DLF Foundation since its inception in 2008 and has conceived and implemented the entire CSR Program of the DLF Group - chalking out its Vision, Mission, philosophy, roadmap and the strategic areas for intervention. In her capacity as the Director of DLF Foundation, she has been responsible for identifying and executing CSR initiatives and has strategically developed and executed diverse projects like Model Village Development, DLF Skill Development Programme and the CGS Veterinary Hospital. With her passion and commitment for social development Ms Paul has forged strategic partnerships with leading national and international non- profit organisations in the social arena. “I am of the opinion that we can greatly enhance employability by providing the right training programmes. This will also help reduce the (current) huge waste of human and financial resources,” says Ms Paul. DLF Foundation was set up with the express mission of empowering communities and creating opportunities for the underprivileged in the areas of Education, Skill Development, Cluster-village Development and Healthcare. DLF believes that these initiatives are integral to the upliftment of, and a better quality of life for, the economically challenged sections of society. The DLF programme has largely focused on the Construction sector, Health assistance and the Beauty and Fashion designing industry. ”We have successfully created awareness by developing effective communications tools. We have developed unique programmes to take this knowledge to all those who require it. Our training programmes are extensive and focused on livelihood generation. They have benefitted large numbers, who have found employment in different sectors, ranging from retail to construction to data entry, besides also several upmarket segments of the fashion design and garment industry. The key skill and aptitude that we have managed to instill in the trainees is professionalism, an essential ingredient in a dynamic global market,” Ms Paul adds. At the same time, DLF is not neglecting the large number of youth who are rural based. The Group is also focusing on imparting appropriate skills to the relatively underprivileged sections and even school dropouts, so that they get a fair chance to join the workforce. DLF has two centres in Gurgaon District - at Chakarpur village and Pataudi, besides another 35 such centres across India. The future plan is to expanding such facilities to another 20-25 locations.

DLF Foundation works at the ground level to ensure that the training imparted is need-based and therefore useful. “Along with Skill Development, we make sure the youth get proper counselling and attitudinal training as well. We have developed in-house operating systems, which help us monitor progress at each of our training centres,” Ms Paul says. “Helping the youth become employable also keeps them in a positive mindset and away from negative influences,” she adds. Of prime importance in helping DLF achieve its objectives is the quality of its trainers and the training methods – for imparting both theoretical and practical training and skills for different vocations. This is an area that the DLF Foundation has been seriously addressing at its centres. It has ensured that the trainers are well equipped and updated with the knowledge and skills that they must impart to the trainees. “This is definitely making a qualitative difference to our ambitious ‘Skill a Million’ programme,“ says Ms Paul. DLF believes that, as a responsible corporate, it is helping set a sustainable employability foundation for the youth of the country.

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