Employability Skills Training – A brief concept note and Proposal

Concept :

Unemployment is not a problem of youth; the real problem is “Un employability”

As the word “un-employability” it-self suggests that candidates, however academically

qualified, may not be USEFUL for any industry due to lack of employable skills.

"Job Oriented Industry Focused Counselling and Training" is the need of the hour as
an academic education has proven insufficient for the fast moving economy and
contemporary business requirements.

Dynamic economic conditions have exposed a world to the competition but,

simultaneously it has opened up a horizon of abundant job opportunities in private
sector. These opportunities can be tapped by educated youth by acquiring necessary
specific “Employability” skills.

While the students from cities have an access to various career opportunities and
necessary skills training, it becomes imperative to create such an infrastructure for rural
students to achieve equitable and comprehensive growth. This brings an opportunity for
Social Entrepreneurs.

We, Samarth Kokan Career Academy (SKCA), aim at harnessing the potential and skills of
Rural Candidates, initially, from Kokan Region of Maharashtra State, through various
counselling, training and placements programmes.

The journey may begin with of “Employability Skills Development Training” but shall not
be confined to. Eventually, Samarth Kokan Career Academy, shall be actively addressing
to the every segment of the society, by various means and approaches, which may
include,

1. Employability skills development for Graduates to suit IT, ITES and BPOs.
2. Vocational Training to undergraduates, Artisans to match with the changing
Industry.
3. Competitive Examinations Training for career in Government / Banking jobs.
4. Development of Entrepreneurship amongst youth.

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Objectives :

1. Provide training for development of employability skills to aspiring students to

enable them to work in any new generation organisations.
2. Devise a support structure for continuous counselling for career development.

The Demographics and Opportunity:

Kokan region, comprising Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg Districts, is situated
along 720 Kms west coastline of Maharashtra state and blessed with natural beauty.

Population, as per 2001 census, for every district is as follows :

Thane – 8.1million, Raigad -2.2 million, Ratnagiri – 1.6 million & Sindhudurg- 0.9 million.

(Recent population may be more as the census is undergoing & data is not available)

As an integral part of Kokan, Ratnagiri & Sindhudurg are coastal districts along the west
coast of Maharashtra and enriched with bio-diverse natural beauty and serene beaches.

Kokan has been birth place of eminent national leaders and thought leaders such as
Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. It has a background of
enriched cultural values and high literacy rate. People of this region, living along the
coastline, are having a high intelligent quotient and thus adaptable to various
educational inputs.

Due to lack of sufficient educational institutes, students of the region have to depend
upon Metros like Mumbai , Pune for special educations such as higher studies, soft skills
training and professional courses.

The survey made in respect of potential for trainable youth has revealed following facts :

1. Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts collectively have around 26 colleges running

various courses such as Undergraduate, Regular degree, Engineering of Mumbai
University.

2. There are approximate 15 institutes / colleges which are running such courses of
other UGC recognised universities such as SNDT, IGNOU etc.

3. Approximately, 4500 students from Ratnagiri district and 2800 students from
Sindhudurg district pass out their graduation from Mumbai University every year.
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 4. Over and above these numbers, another 4000 plus students pass out from other
UGC recognised universities, every year.

5. Random sample study of this student population revealed that at least 60 % of

above mass is trainable for any of the skills required for corporate jobs matching
to their qualifications and branch of study.

6. This entails a huge number of approximate 6000 youths, every year, as a potential
trainees and future skilled employee base for any IT process driven businesses.

7. Apart from this there is a floating mass of graduates who are catering to local
industry & business needs but definitely aspiring for a better career options.

8. For an organisation, planning for their talent development over the period of next
2-3 years, it would be boon to harness this talent pool for the benefits envisaged
as follows ...

a. Huge numbers of intelligent mass to choose.

b. Youth willing to relocate to Mumbai – Pune /Metros.

c. Reliable & trust worthy and loyal nature.

d. Hard working for every opportunity.

SKCA’s Strengths and Activities :

Abinitio, SKCA aims to focus on Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg Districts and identified
“Chiplun” to have our first training centre.

Chiplun is a city and a municipal council in Ratnagiri district in the state of Maharashtra.
Located on the Mumbai–Goa highway (NH-17) in western India, Chiplun is connected to
other parts of the country mainly by National Highway 17 (NH-17) which connects
Chiplun to Mumbai, Thane, Ratnagiri, Pune Karad, Kolhapur, Mangalooru, Karwar, Udupi.
There is a major railway station at Chiplun on Konkan railway route which also connects
above these destinations. Six out of Nine tehsils of Ratnagiri are well connected to Chiplun
by Road transport and converting it as a strategic location for mobility of students and
faculty.

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The state of art infra with adequate IT infra is set up in 2000 sq ft space and is
operational at Chiplun, Since October 2010. The centre has following infrastructure

1. Classroom 1- Fully furnished classrooms with a student capacity of 32 students,

having LAN to convert it as a Computer class.

2. Classroom 2 - Fully furnished classrooms with a student capacity of 40 students.

3. A seminar hall to accommodate 100 participants to conduct various seminars,

management workshops etc.

4. Computer laboratory having 12 PC’s and printer.

5. Audio visual set-up to conduct presentations and training sessions.

6. Student counselling room.

7. Centre Manager’s cum Student counselling cabin.

8. Server room with LAN infrastructure.

9. High speed broadband Internet service.

10. Spacious Reception with waiting lounge.

11. Rest room for faculty / VIP’s with attached toilet.

12. Pantry to prepare light snacks.

How SKCA can play a role in Employability Skills Training ?

1. Provide infrastructure for training activity.

2. Provide Training resources.

3. Local students counselling and consulting.

4. Arrangement for specific events or seminars in various locations.

5. Act as a local touch-point for students and provide placement support.

6. Facilitate various activities for students and prospective employers.

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The process to render training services at multiple locations viz. Ratnagiri, Kankawali and
Sawantwadi (both in Sindhudurg district) is in pipeline and similar training centres are
expected to start the operations in near future. Thus, SKCA can be a support role for many
prospective corporate employers for their potential employees training needs.

Founder’s Profile : SKCA is professionally managed by engineering graduates with post

graduation from JBIMS having 18 plus years of corporate experience.

1. Mr. Sandeep Dinkar Vichare – A Engineering Graduate with a post graduate

qualification in Finance (JBIMS) having 18 years of corporate sector in the field of
Corporate Strategy, Business Development, Finance & Accounts, Marketing,
Training & Development and Operations.
2. Mr. Avinash Ashok Shinde – A Electronics Engineers and first generation
Entrepreneur from Chiplun, has business experience of more than 12 years.

Proposal : In view of the above opportunity , we propose to conduct 3 pilot batches for
TCS -BPO to explore How BEST both the entities can work together to have mutually
beneficial relationships.

Contact Details :

Sandeep Dinkar Vichare

Director – Samarth Kokan Career Academy,

Unit C-2 , Second Floor, City Centre, Bahadurshaikh Naka, Chiplun, Ratnagiri- 415605

Mobile : +919920057701

Email : vsandy31@gmail.com