Rapid urban technological development often eludes its rural counterparts. That being said, there has been a serious dearth of higher academic opportunities and vocational training for the able and ambitious youth belonging to India’s towns and villages. Since their hometowns lack advanced educational opportunities and guidance easily available to urban India, the rural youth are often left unemployed or forced to migrate to larger cities to work as manual labour. Sensing the gap in the opportunities available between cities and villages, Ashutosh Kumar has implemented a novel idea that solves several problems in one drive. Skills on Wheels (SOW) is Kumar’s pet project that has been bringing vocational –IT -training opportunities at the doorstep of rural youth with the help of mobile vans.
Initially started in Bihar in 2015, the project enjoyed a roaring success, where Kumar and his team trained more than 500 students. In effect Skills On Wheels has helped their students to set up customer service points for banks, cyber cafes, and common service centres close to their villages, generating several avenues for a steady income. SOW recently shifted to the hilly states of Jammu and Kashmir, and Meghalaya. At present, the project is in full swing in two villages near Tura region in the West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya in collaboration with ‘NERCORMP (an organisation under the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region),’ as reported The Better India.
With this project, Kumar is not only offering training for several rural youths but also averting their possible migration to the already overpopulated cities. Milaap.org reported that service vehicle will spend approximately two hours in each village, depending upon the connectivity and distance of the village as well as the number of enrolled students. Along with IT, Kumar aims to venture in the realms of training for medical representatives, tailoring, stitching and retail, all with the help dedicated automobiles that shall bring the skills to the youth, than the latter having to go in search of vocational guidance.
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