Challenge

Rural India is brimming with untapped talent

Strategy

Skilling youth and women through 8
skill development initiatives

Outreach

95 skill development centers
In 18 states

 

Overview       Strategy       Initiatives      Impact      Stories      

Overview

Rural India is brimming with untapped talent. The Art of Living’s SSRDP (Sri Sri Rural Development Program) is on a mission to tap the power of rural and disadvantaged youth and women through skill development and entrepreneurship programs. These programs deliver lessons on ethical leadership, life skills, and technical knowledge, ultimately empowering individuals towards sustainable livelihoods. As a certified partner of National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), SSRDP is authorized to provide NSDC certification for vocational and skill development trainings for around 2,000 job roles in 32 sectors. SSRDP offers its skill development and entrepreneurship programs in partnership with Central and State Government departments, corporate groups, educational institutes, and community-based organizations.

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

 

Develop rural India

Bring solar lighting, sanitation facilities, strong local governance and much more in rural India

8 skill development initiatives are being run by us, to close the skill gap in rural India

Youth are the backbone of our country and they determine the country's development. Hence, they have to be competent enough to face the challenges in life.

- Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Strategy

Our approach towards skilling the nation:

Training youth: Empowering underprivileged youth from urban and semi-urban communities through vocational training, leading to employment and income-generating opportunities.

Empowering women: Women from socially and economicallybackward sections are empowered so they can increase their family income by providing meaningful skills training and market access for their goods and produce.

Leadership training programs: Creating empowered leaders through our leadership training programs to ensure ownership, sustainability of the project and commitment.

Creating rural enterprises: Developing rural enterprise by creating rural entrepreneurs with eco-friendly and sustainable technologies that provide clean drinking water, energy access, smokeless cook-stoves, agri-farm support and many more.

Our strategy includes:

with skills, helping them gain employment and income-generating opportunities

Empowering women

creating leaders who ensure the sustainability of our projects

Creating rural enterprises

What it takes to skill a nation

 

Our skill development initiatives

Skill development centers: SSRDP runs 95 Sri Sri Kaushal Vikas Kendras, the skill development centers, in 18 states of India, providing skill training and certification in over 50 different job roles from various sectors. There is a special focus on skilling in sectors that can promote sustainable development, such as solar energy. Some of SSRDP’s skill development centers are located in remote parts of the North-East, Jammu and Kashmir, and other areas affected by unrest.

Prison inmate skill development program: We are currently running Prison Inmate Skill Development Programme in 16 jails across India, to inculcate self-worth in prisoners, help them break out of self-destructive behavioral patterns and offer them channels for economic rehabilitation.

Recognition of prior learning: We conduct RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) certification in yoga, agriculture, textile, apparel, retail, tourism, hospitality and other sectors for certifying the competencies of the unregulated workforce, providing recognition to informal learning (or learning through work) and giving it the same level of acceptance as formal education.

Access to employability: Our Access to Employability Program has already reached around 69,000 students in more than 200 colleges in 17 states, providing classes on interview skills, spoken English, personal grooming and soft skills, advanced computer training and job-specific technical trainings.

Entrepreneurship development program: With support from corporate partners, we provide Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) to ensure that those who have completed skill trainings can also create proper business plans to run their own enterprises successfully. In many cases, this has been followed by access to microfinance to help aspiring entrepreneurs set-up their own ventures.

Skill gap surveys: We undertake Skill Gap Surveys to study skill gaps and submit reports for youth aspirations vis-a-vis availability of jobs in various industry sectors in different regions, thereby assisting the government in acquiring accurate and authentic data for creating policies.

Van Dhan Vikas: We are working under the Van Dhan Vikas Yojana in partnership with the Government of India’s Ministry of Tribal Affairs for the economic upliftment of tribal communities through livelihood trainings, self-help groups, manufacturing units, and market linkages.

Career counseling: We provide career counseling to help youth to identify their aptitudes through psychometric assessment, making them aware of the wide range of opportunities available for skill development and guiding them towards the right career choices for training, employment, and entrepreneurship.

Electrician training

Grill-making

Solar training

Participants at skill development center in Tinsukia jail

The Art of Living is running 95 skill development centers across India including remote parts of North-East India, Jammu & Kashmir.

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Impact

95 skill development centers

in 18 states of India

 

305,618 people trained

in various skills

 

17 prison programs

inmate skill development in 17 jails across India

 

69,000+ students trained

in 200 colleges, under Access to Employability program

 

4,000 students trained

in soft skills in Andhra Pradesh

 

4,300 yoga professionals

trained under RPL

Featured stories

A multi-faceted approach to social initiatives has saved many lives,lit many smiles, and helped communities experience progress. Every piece of service work is created with dedicated analysis, thoughtful care - keeping humaneness in the forefront.

A multi-faceted approach to social initiatives has saved many lives, lit many smiles, and helped communities experience progress. Every piece of service work is created with dedicated analysis, thoughtful care - keeping humaneness in the forefront.

Contact Us

info@projects.artofliving.org+91 80 67433684

 
The Art of Living International Center, 21st Km, Kanakapura Road, Udayapura, Bangalore South, Karnataka, India 560082