HDFC Bank’s Skills Training provides employment opportunities to 3,000 youth of Nagpur

Ms. Khushali Uikey, Ms. Madhuri Pateriya, and Ms. Vrushali Tukankar are ambitious and hardworking young ladies from Kedarpur, a village with a population of 300, located 65 km from Nagpur. A year ago, lack of job-ready skills and career guidance did not allow them to pursue their dream of securing a job and becoming financially independent.

It changed when the three enrolled at HDFC Bank's Career Counselling and Skills Training centre for youth in Nagpur to acquire the skills necessary to be job-ready. After successfully completing the nine-month Skills Training programme, they have now realized their dream. The young ladies from Kedarpur have been offered employment at a leading retail chain in Nagpur.

Similar to Khushali, Madhuri, and Vrushali from Kedarpur, youth ladies from over 180 villages in and around Nagpur and Bhandara joined the first batch of students at the training centre. After completing the skills training programme, participants receive certificate from National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC), making themselves eligible for employment. Participants who sought job opportunities have been offered employment in Retail, Telecom, and Tourism & Hospitality sectors.

At an event held in Nagpur today, Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis presided over the convocation ceremony, where youth who have accepted employment opportunities were given Offer Letters. Also present at the ceremony were Ms. Nusrat Pathan, Head - CSR, HDFC Bank; and Mr Ketan Deshpande, Founder & CEO, FUEL.

In addition to the skills training, the bank has also provided career counselling to over 13,000 students across 65 schools in and around Nagpur to help them pursue appropriate career opportunities

Career Counselling focuses on:

• Increasing self-awareness
• Educating them on the various career paths they can pursue
• Helping them pursue their chosen path by connecting them with industry partners for scholarships

Besides counselling and guiding them on over 100 career opportunities they can pursue, participants have been provided with personalized career assessment, 12*7 career toll-free hotline, career guidance booklet, scholarship booklet, sms alerts, and access to job fairs.

This initiative aims to make more youth job-ready by counselling them on career opportunities and providing skills training needed for employment. The beneficiaries are primarily from rural geographies.

Skill development is the need of the hour, with the present skills training capacity in the country estimated at four million as against close to 12 million people who join the workforce each year. As a result, approximately 70 per cent of the total workforce in the country don’t receive training and only 10 per cent are job-ready and employable without any training, according to a recent research report.

For this initiative, HDFC Bank has partnered with FUEL (Friends Union for Energizing Lives), an NGO that provides career counselling to the youth. The skills training is provided by Orion Edutech, a partner agency of National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) that certifies the trained youth.

“As a socially responsible corporate, providing employment opportunities to over 3,000 youth is our humble attempt to contribute to the growth and progress of our communities, and thereby our nation. After the launch of our training centre at the hands of the CM in Nagpur, we will continue to make more youth job-ready by counselling them on career opportunities and providing skills training needed for employment. This will enhance the employability of the youth to help them get meaningful employment opportunities. This in turn will further allow the nation to leverage the young population that India has. The initiative is in line with one of our core values – Sustainability – where the objective is to Create Sustainable Communities,” said Ms. Nusrat Pathan, Head – Corporate Social Responsibility, HDFC Bank.