MUMBAI:
ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth (ICICI Foundation), the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of the ICICI Group, today announced that it will reach the milestone of providing free vocational training to a cumulative of 5 lakh youth from economically weaker sections by FY’20.
Saurabh Singh, President-ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth made this announcement while inaugurating a new centre of ICICI Academy for Skills (ICICI Academy), the flagship programme of ICICI Foundation to provide free vocational training to youth from economically weaker sections, at Dehradun in Uttarakhand today. This is the 25 th centre of ICICI Academy in India and the first in Uttarakhand.
ICICI Foundation was founded by the ICICI Group in 2008 with a view to carry forward and build upon the Group’s legacy of promoting inclusive growth. In addition to ICICI Academy, ICICI Foundation provides vocational training through Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) and various rural initiatives. Through these initiatives, ICICI Foundation has trained 3.87 lakh people till date with 100% job placement for eligible students.
At the inauguration programme of the Dehradun centre, Singh, President-ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth said, “ICICI Group has a long standing tradition of contributing to the nation’s growth through its business and CSR initiatives. In line with this tradition, we recognised skill development as an important area of focus. With this focus, emerged the idea of setting up skill training centres across the country, and the launch of ICICI Academy for Skills. Our effort has been to take a holistic approach to ensure free-of-cost, job-oriented training, to the youth from the
weaker sections of society and also help them to find employment through our linkages with the industry.
ICICI Academy has so far trained over 1.14 lakh youth, including 46,000 women. Eligible students have achieved 100% placement. In addition to ICICI Academy, ICICI Foundation enables sustainable livelihood through skill development at over 1,200 villages and through the Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs). In total, ICICI Foundation has trained 3.87 lakh people since inception. We believe that the skills acquired through this Academy will equip the trained youth to engage in productive and remunerative economic activity and take part in the nation’s growth. We are striving to achieve a milestone of training 5 lakh individuals cumulatively by FY20.”
Key highlights of ICICI Academy for Skills:
25 centres across the country offering free vocational training in 12 disciplines : Selling Skills, Office Administration, Electrical & Home Appliance Repair, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Repair, Central Air Conditioning, Pumps & Motor Repair, Paint Application Techniques, Tractor Mechanic, Two & Three Wheeler Service Technician, Retail Sales, Assistant Beauty Therapist and Home Health Aide.
The curricula consists of 12 weeks free industry relevant vocational training courses, and life skills such as etiquette & grooming, communication, basic English and financial literacy.
ICICI Academy also provides free uniforms, meals and all relevant course material to trainees.
Eligibility criterion: Students from the economically weaker sections in the age group of 18 to 30 years and have passed at least standard X
ICICI Academy has tied up with 10 ‘Knowledge Partners’ to create the course content and over 1300 ‘Industry Partners’, who provide employment to the trained candidates
The curricula and training for the ‘Selling Skills’ course is developed in-house
The Dehradun centre will initially train 550 students a year
Another programme of ICICI Foundation is the ‘ICICI Rural initiatives’. It aims at improving the income levels of villagers through earnings from new skills or through improvements in their existing occupations. It offers vocational training to villagers based on the local needs and helps establish market linkages for them to earn a sustainable livelihood. Training is imparted in over 50 locally relevant skills, including a module on Entrepreneurship Development. Through this project, ICICI Foundation has trained more than 1.91 lakh villagers in over 1,200 villages across 29 states. The availability of a sustainable livelihood at these villages now discourages individuals from migrating to urban locations in search of jobs.
ICICI Foundation also has RSETIs that undertake skill development activities through its centres in Udaipur and Jodhpur districts of Rajasthan. The RSETIs operate two residential centres in these districts along with 16 non-residential centres across various blocks within these districts to provide training to semi-urban and rural underprivileged. They impart skill training in over 30 diversified trades based on the requirements of the local economy. Since inception, RSETIs have trained over 81,000 people of which 54% are women.
