Despite the pandemic, the SEDI team celebrated World Youth Skills Day with much enthusiasm at all SEDI locations. With the theme, ‘Reimaging Youth Skills Post-Pandemic’, virtual events were organized at various locations with industry experts and partners sharing insights on skill training.  On this occasion, ACF also launched the COVID-19 volunteering program ‘Ambuja CoviSAINIK’ for individuals to offer the health administration a cadre of village volunteers.

One of the biggest events was the inauguration of SEDI Udaipur, which was established with the support of Hindustan Zinc Limited. Officials from both organization were present during the inaugural ceremony and also planted trees in the campus area. SEDI Udaipur is set to offer rural youth courses in Customer Relationship Management, Business Processing and Micro-Finance. SEDI Nagaur also launched 2 new batches in Make-Up Artist and Retail Sales, mobilising 20 new admissions and receiving more than 50 inquiries.

SEDI Bhatapara and SEDI Chhindwara jointly celebrated with 140 trainees, with guest speakers and alumni sharing life experiences, family transformations and market demand. Competitions like quizzes, poster-making, slogan-making and poems were also organized. This virtual event also announced the winners and provided them with e-certificates. SEDI Surat also celebrated by inviting guest speakers to talk about soft skills, motivations and life experiences.

SEDI Darlaghat and Nalagarh invited the Solar Man of India, Mr. Chetan Singh to share his insights and journey with 190 SEDI trainees through virtual interaction. At SEDI Jaitaran, there were many medical experts, partners and senior leaders of ACF present to launch the COVID-19 Volunteer Program through a virtual event. The Sub Division Magistrate – Jaitaran (GOI), District Development Manager – Pali (NABARD) also motivated the trainees, distributed tool kits, presented offer letters and inaugurated 3 new batches.

A range of activities was organized at SEDI Dariba with the Head CSR – Hindustan Zinc Limited, Anupama Nidhi present during the virtual interaction.  Other activities included vaccination drives, alumni meet, canopy mobilization at the marketplace and poster-making competitions. A trainee was also felicitated as the Skill Icon, and Alumni were felicitated in the presence of government officials.

The District Vocational Officer of Chandrapur, Sushil Bhujade was part of the virtual event organized by SEDI Chandrapur where he and his team highly appreciated ACF’s efforts in skilling rural youth during the pandemic. Trainees also shared insights on how they overcame challenges and built confidence to venture out for job placement during the pandemic. A virtual event was also organized in SEDI Gandhinagar where senior leaders from Sadvichar Parivar and ACF joined in.

At Ambujanagar, Kodinar, the SEDI alumni were recognized for their efforts during the pandemic with partners felicitating them followed by a series of webinars. SEDI Chirawa had dignitaries from the Municipal Corporation, and other reputed companies who joined the event and motivated trainees to continue working hard. 12 trainees were recognised as ‘Corona Warriors’ for their extreme efforts during the lockdown. An award was also granted to the best trainee and best trainer. The dignitaries also inaugurated a lab at SEDI Chirawa to be used for training the volunteers under the COVID-19 volunteer program.

In Roorkee, guest speakers motivated trainees to learn a particular skill and also informed them about the government schemes available for self-employment. A few other SEDIs that had similar events were Sankrail, Kayad and Jaipur.

It was a privilege for the trainees at SEDI to hear insights and learnings from such high-level individuals representing different industries. Such events motivate rural youth and build confidence to push boundaries and excel.