AISECT to provide free-of-cost training to 950 minority community youth across 7 states under Central Government’s Seekho Aur Kamao scheme

AISECT, which is India’s leading Social Enterprise working in the area of skill development, will be training 950 minority community candidates across 7 states under Central Government’s Seekho Aur Kamao scheme. These states include Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal.

Seekho Aur Kamao scheme was initiated in 2013-14 by the Ministry of Minority Affairs for skill development of the minority communities, including Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains. It aims to upgrade the skills of the minority youth in various modern or traditional skills depending on the qualification of the candidate, present economic trends and market potential, which can help them earn a decent and respectable livelihood.

As per AISECT’s agreement with the Ministry, training under the ‘Seekho Aur Kamao’ scheme will commence from March 2019 in 16 districts of the target states. These include Indore, Harda, Jabalpur, Shajapur and Sagar in Madhya Pradesh, Shopian and Sopore Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, Deoria and Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh, Raipur and Durg in Chhattisgarh, Nasik in Maharashtra, Sikhar in Rajasthan as well as Silampur and Malda in West Bengal.

Talking about the training and what it aims to achieve, AISECT Group’s Executive Vice President Mr Siddharth Chaturvedi said, “For the Seekho Aur Kamao scheme, we will aim for placement of at least 75% of the trained youth, with 50% of them being placed in the organized sector. We will be focusing on minorities including Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains and will earmark 33% for the minority community girls. Through services like RojgarMantra.com and Rojgar Melas, we plan to bridge the gap between the skilled minorities and the Industry.”

The training will be conducted over a period of 3-4 months wherein candidates will be made job ready for roles such as Consignment Booking Assistant, Retail Trainee Associate, Field Technician-Networking & Storage, Field Technician–Computing & Peripherals, Domestic Data Entry Operator, Documentation Assistant, Retail Sales Associate and Self Employed Tailor.

Candidates between 18 and 35 years of age and with educational qualification ranging from 8^th Class to Diploma/12^th/Graduate/Post Graduate will be eligible to participate in the training programme. The trainees will be paid a monthly stipend of INR 1500 for two months. In order to mobilize the youth about the ‘Seekho Aur Kamao’ scheme, AISECT will organize career counseling camps and Kaushal Vikas Yatras in the target regions.

The candidates will be trained free of cost and will be evaluated through internal classroom tests and third-party assessments by the respective Sector Skill Councils. On successful compoletioon of the training programme, the candidates will be provided with an AISECT Batch Completion Certificate as well as a Sector Skill Council Assessment Certificate. AISECT will also provide students with post-placement support, which will help in keeping a track on the students’ career.

Launched in 1985, AISECT works in semi-urban and rural parts of the country to empower people through skill development, Higher Education, Financial Inclusion, e-Governance and other ICT-based services avenue. It is spearheading numerous skill development initiatives of the Central and State Governments like Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra, Deen Dayal Upadhyay-Grameen Kaushalya Yojana, National Skills Qualification Framework,National Urban Livelihood Mission, State Skill Development Missions, etc. Till date, the organization has successfully trained over 20 lakh people at the small town, district, block and panchayat level areas across India.