The Indian Institute of Information Technology, Sri City, has adopted five villages under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan scheme to train women and make them employable.
Institute director G. Kannabiran and Sri Padmavathi Mahila Visvavidyalayam Vice-Chancellor Jamuna Duvvuru have launched the skill development programme for rural women, thus empowering them for jobs and entrepreneurship. The Fulbright alumni project is based on an alumni micro grants competition proposed by the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, in collaboration with Swechha (We for Change Foundation).
Mr. Kannabiran said there were opportunities for entrepreneurship for women that could be leveraged through a structured engagement approach to link the opportunities and build their skills.
The project focuses on partnering with skill development organisations, including non-governmental organisations.
Ms. Jamuna said a few target groups of women would be identified, trained and on-boarded into jobs or self-employment or entrepreneurship. As on date, eight villages have been chosen for the purpose.
The women will be given information on the opportunities for jobs and entrepreneurship. Focus group meetings with village heads, managers of industries to estimate opportunities will be conducted. NGOs that offer skill development support will be roped in. Ultimately, the engagement would be transferred to Sri City social responsibility team.
“As the number of companies in Sri City is increasing significantly, the engagement model can be easily scaled up by extending additional opportunities to women. More villages may be brought under the engagement,” Mr. Kannabiran added.
