With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Skill India Mission aiming to skill today’s youth for employment, many corporates are emulating the mission within their own corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. In an exclusive interview with Dr OP Goel, head of Bosch India Vocational Center, and Social Engagement program, shares details of the company’s initiatives and various facets of its CSR wing. Edited excerpts:
How is Bosch collaborating with PM Modi’s Skill India Mission?
On the backdrop of PM Narendra Modi vowing to make India the skills capital of the world with flagship initiatives like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Skill India’, Bosch’s BRIDGE Program provides a skill development model which focuses on making under educated and unemployed youth employable.
A successful private-public partnership (PPP) with three state governments has resulted in 88 government ITIs serving as BRIDGE Centers, which are also upgraded by Bosch in curriculum modernization, training of ITI trainers, providing industry exposure to select ITI students, besides setting up a Bosch Technical Lab in each of these ITIs.
These initiatives create a pool of skilled manpower for the industry.
What is Bosch India’s research work on developing sustainable energy storage solutions?
Bosch India is working on sustainable solutions to produce and use electricity from renewable sources. Wind and solar energy are by nature intermittent and clean energy is frequently wasted. This fluctuating behavior stresses the need to have a stable power grid; its death leading, in many cases, to curtailment of renewables.
Bosch Power Storage Solution is designed for utilities, renewable operators or industrial customers seeking a flawless integration of renewable in the power grid.
Does Bosch India go beyond the mandated 2 per cent for its CSR expenditure?
Yes, for example, Primavera is an employee-led, employee-funded initiative of Bosch that focuses on bringing underprivileged children out of poverty cycle by supporting 10 projects across 6 cities in India. 1000 children are being benefited through Primavera’s initiatives.
How does Bosch India hope to create a multiplier effect with its social impact initiatives?
Bosch has so far created a combined beneficiary strength of 13,500 in skilling (3,500 apprentices through Bosch Vocational Center, 10,000 youth trained and placed across India through BRIDGE, and about 100 artisan trainees) besides beneficiaries of its other programs.
By creating greater awareness of our flagship programs like BRIDGE, Bosch is hoping to bring many more thousands of unemployed and less privileged youth into the mainstream of society. As a nation, we are facing acute dearth of qualified trainers to skill India. Bosch is working towards building capacity to skill 10,000 youth every year.
Bosch believes that every step forward to the elevation of society creates a ripple effect that benefits it. This multiplier effect can be sustained only by developing models that can be easily scaled up like BRIDGE and through successful multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Note : Above dialogue is based on Business World’s exclusive interview with Dr. O P Goel, head of Bosch India Vocational Center, and Social Engagement program
