SAMARTH: An initiative for Skill development and enhancement

The underprivileged section of the society finds it hard to earn a livelihood for themselves. UPAY as an organization is engaged in providing education to the children of this section. After spending 10 years in the field working for these children, we realized that this section believes in the fact that having more earning hands is more important than getting a child educated. This led to many students dropping out of school and discontinue their studies. Statistically speaking, there are 33 million working children in India between the age group of 5-18 years, and 99 million children have dropped out of school. The numbers speak for themselves displaying the magnitude of the problem the country faces. The need of the hour calls for a cumulative action where these people can be helped out by providing them livelihood options. They can earn enough to sustain themselves and their families and become self-dependent. This, in the long run, will help them realize the importance of education for their children and also make them aware of the various opportunities which can be availed by them. UPAY has started an initiative in this direction where it is trying to address the twin problems of education and livelihood generation for this section of the society and bring them in the mainstream.

UPAY has started an initiative in this direction where it aims to reach out to these families, organize awareness camps for them, then move towards engaging them in various skill development initiatives. The skill development initiative of UPAY – SAMARTH is a small step in this direction. Under this initiative, we aim to bring these people together, allow them to develop their skills, enhance their existing skills, and at last connect them to the market place. At present we have started with sewing machine classes for the mothers of the children who are associated with our educational centers. The entire process of creating independent entrepreneurs begins with community engagement by conducting workshops to gauge their interests, providing certified training to these women, and eventually providing them a market place to sell their products and services. In the next move, UPAY aims to set up a sanitary napkin making machine which will be owned and run by these women. UPAY has also created an e-commerce platform “Sabkasaman.com” which will act as a bridge between these women and the market. To help them financially, UPAY also is working towards their enrolment in the various government initiatives. In the long run, the impact created would be substantial, with these people being capable enough to sustain themselves and indirectly it will lead to a reduction in the drop out the number of the children. This way the two major problems will be taken care of with a solution to one, leading to a solution for another.

UPAY through its initiative is aimed at reaching all such sections of the society who have been side-lined due to the dearth of basic amenities. Beginning with this initiative, UPAY will, first of all, reach out to the 500 beneficiaries who are associated with the educational centers. It has started the process by taking the pioneering step in Nagpur, Bangalore, Delhi, and Gurugram as of now. We have an enrolment number of 50 women as of now. In the process of expansion, the majority of the mothers will be covered and will be made self-reliant. The aim is to create leaders within the community who would further propagate the vision which UPAY aims to impart to them. They would become the change-makers for the community and build a chain of reform and development. Reaching all the nooks and corners would in the long run take care of the twin problems already talked about and would help these people earn a livelihood for themselves. At UPAY we have already created social leaders in the field of education. They were the ones who started as students and are now running these educational centers independently. The aim is to build similar leaders who can get trained and eventually train others amongst them and build a positive chain of change.