When your schooling comes to an end in a remote, rural area, the opportunities available to you are limited.  Particularly so, if you are from a low income background and cannot afford to travel and stay away to study or learn a trade - it casts a bleak shadow over the future.

Because of this, for many years, the team at Sankrail's Skill & Entrepreneurship Development Institute (SEDI) had been training local people from within the 28 local villages of Sankrail Block. And whilst things were running smoothly, there was a desire to make a large impact, and help even those who are from the interiors & can't afford the finances to travel or stay away.  

It was a similar situation in Murshidabad, Farraka, another remote community on the border of Bangladesh where also, ACF runs a SEDI. The challenge was the same:  how could they help the most marginalised youth of the community gain skills that would help them forge a livelihood?

To tackle this problem, the team at SEDI set their sights on establishing two residential facilities. With the launch of the new Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) scheme under the Ministry of Rural Development and Utkarsh Bangla (PBSSD, GoWB), the team set about submitting an application.

The DDU-GKY Scheme, an initiative of the Ministry of Rural Development (GOI), aims to skill rural youth from underprivileged backgrounds and was started with an aim to promote rural livelihoods. 

In 2018, ACF became one of the first implementing  partners under the scheme, with funding allotted for the establishment of hostel facilities to support the skill training of rural youth from marginalised communities in the districts of Howrah, Hoogli, Malda and Murshidabad, West Bengal. Additionally, the Ministry provided financial support for 1125 trainees to attend skill training courses - learning trades such as 2/3 Wheeler Automobile mechanics, Electrical wiring, Sewing, Smartphone Repair and Welding.

The Government of India has a set an ambitious target for providing skill training to 500 million of youth by 2022, which is in line with the estimated demand for skilled manpower over the next decade. 

ACF is playing its part, thanks to investment from the Ministry of Rural Development & Utkarsh Bangla (PBSSD, GoWB), in skilling the nation and today young people from scheduled castes in remote areas of West Bengal are thriving with new found futures, thanks to this value-added program.

IMPACT