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 16th till April 16th, 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 1st 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 10th
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.
