Vocational Training of youth from Sultanpur village in Peri-Urban Gurgaon

SaciWATERs collaborated with GMR Varalakshmi Centre of Empowerment and Livelihood for providing Capacity Building training for selected youth from Sultanpur village in Peri-urban Gurgaon. The duration of this collaboration was three months, starting from January 16^th till April 16^th, 2012. Objective of this collaboration was to provide a platform for village youths to learn newer skills, which in turn would provide an alternate source of livelihood for families solely dependent on agriculture. This is also part of the Gurgaon team’s effort to empower youth, in order to deal with likely loss of their source of livelihoods, once lands are either acquired or sold.

At the time of writing this blog, all five students had successfully completed their training. Four students enrolled in Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning (RAC) course have been offered on-the-job training (OJT) for 45 days. On completion of the OJT period, followed by another round of evaluation, they will become eligible for jobs in Voltas Company, one of the world’s premier engineering solutions providers and project specialists.

As a follow-up to the training, four students from the village were spoken to, in order to know their experiences and learning from the training programme. This blog post documents their views about the training, in their own words.

Name of Student – Mr. Madan Singh

Training Experience

The courses as well as teachers were good. RAC was the main course taught to us, however, we were given additional classes in Personality Development, English and Computer. All the courses were very good. Classes used to begin at 9:30 AM and end at 4:45 PM. Four classes were held daily. I did not have any prior knowledge of RAC, however, after four to five classes, I started finding it very interesting. A lot of emphasis was given to practical learning and we were also taken for plant/company visits near the Delhi airport. I believe that this training has provided me an alternate working option. I look forward to go for the OJT and also take up the opportunity to work. 

Name of Student – Mr. Rahul Chauhan

Training Experience

As the training progressed, my interest in RAC course increased. After completion of the course, I believe I have an additional ability/skill and I can think of pursuing this further as a livelihood option. Now, I can say that I can do something in addition to farming. It was a very good experience and teachers were also good. There was a sense on motivation from teacher’s side to make us learn the RAC course. I cannot think of any negative point associated with the training. The total batch size was about 16-17 students. About 10-11 students were from Delhi, 4 students from Sultanpur village and 2 students from Manesar. We could also interact with students from other courses and in the process, made many friends. Given an opportunity, I would definitely want to work.

Name of Student – Mr. Happy Sharma

Training Experience

The overall training experience was very good. It was my 1^st such exposure to a training programme. In addition to academic knowledge, the training provided a platform for interaction with new people and make new friends. Another additional advantage was by exposure to courses such as Personality Development, Computer and English. There were no negatives associated with the training. I will definitely go for the OJT.

Name of Student – Mr. Pawan Kumar

Training Experience

Prior to joining the training programme, I did not know anything about personality development, but now, I know many things about it. After the three months training in electrical course, I can make all electrical fittings of my house. I can also open my own electronic shop and ensure that it runs successfully. Thus, now I can stand on my own legs. The environment at the training centre was very good. We also used to get different food daily. There was not even a single reason for any complaint. I have made many friends; some of them even belong to Jhansi. What I learnt over three months at the training centre is equal to whatever I was taught till my 10^th standard school education! The English teacher was very good and I used to tell her that if I had earlier taken lessons from her, I would have been in a very good position by now. Teachers used to teach from the ground level. It is after 8 years of gap that I got into a formal training/education set-up. This could be one reason why I could not perform well in the course. Also, I have spoken about this course to other village youths and in future, they could be interested in going for such training programmes.