Bengaluru : Shifting gears to suit the prevailing market needs, the Social Welfare Department is in talks with nearly 200 companies, across different sectors, to provide not just skills, but employment to youth belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
In a free-wheeling interaction with The Hindu on Monday, Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge said this is on the model of the ‘Airavata’ scheme of the department under which an MoU has been signed with cab aggregators to train 4,500 youth to create self-employment opportunities and boost livelihood options. The department has set aside ₹225 crore for the scheme and nearly 7,000 applications have been received so far.
The department, he said, has realigned its objectives and is trying to make youth employable and give them an option to be entrepreneurs. Describing the effort as “probably the biggest entrepreneurial programme ever”, he said, “This is not limited to taxis. We have spoken to close to 200 companies… We are only asking them to train the youth, provide them a skill set, and certify them. The retailers are entering new markets at zero cost, besides getting an entrepreneur, as the department will be funding the entire set up.”
The department will be partnering only with those companies who have market credibility and financial stability. Mr. Kharge said the department was also in talks with the Bangalore International Airport Ltd., which is supporting pilot training with air carriers.
“We are training pilots who are looking for jobs. For instance, if one air carrier needs pilots, we will provide them candidates… they have to train them and certify them. Even if they employ half the candidates, the other half are more employable than they were before, as someone from the industry has certified them. That may help them get jobs with other air carriers,” he said.
He said the department has earmarked ₹100 crore for the reskilling project, and ₹500 crore for the entrepreneurship programme.
The department also announced a new scheme — Unnati — for startups recently. Mr. Kharge said the department would provide funds up to ₹50 lakh for SC/ST youth who are co-founders, with substantial role or stake in the company. The other part of the scheme is if the startup is working on bringing in social impact by solving a real-world problem. Such startups will also receive funding, he added.
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