Bhilai,
Transforming despair to hope, the ICICI Academy of Skills situated in Sector 6 has empowered over 6400 underprivileged youth through Skills Development.
Established on March 24, 2015, this centre, popularly known as Livelihood College, imparts free skill training to less privileged youth and offers a three months course in the areas of ‘Selling Skills’, ‘Office Administration’, ‘Centralised Air Conditioning’, ‘Refrigeration & Air Conditioning’ and ‘Electrical & Home Appliance Repair’.
From a shy girl to Skills Mobilization Coordinator; from a labour to expert electrician; from a farm labour to Finance Executive; and from a shop worker to a bank employee are some of the success stories of Livelihood College, Sector 6, which is a joint initiative by Government of Chhattisgarh through State Project Livelihood College Society (SPLCS) and ICICI Foundation. The pass-outs of this centre and are successfully earning their livelihood and are supporting their family in a better way. Hailing from an underprivileged family, Soni Kushwaha was a less-confident girl till her graduation.
She wanted to support her debt ridden father, who is involved in business of roadside eatery. In the meanwhile, she came to know about the Livelihood College and ICICI Academy of Skills and got enrolled for skills development training in Selling Skills stream. Thereafter, she got placed as executive in “SBI Credit Card” promotion and marketing agency. Now she is earning Rs 10000 plus Incentive every month. With her savings, she managed to repay a major portion of her father’s loan. The girl worked with dedication and utilised the life skills she learnt at the academy which brought her success in the first job.
D Gopi received Selling Skills training after completing his school. He got first placement in a firm Home Credit as sales executive and with dedicated efforts, he made a record by selling a record of 180 laptops in a single month. Now he has jumped to Bajaj Credit services and is earning a handsome salary. While working, he completed his graduation. He further took a loan of Rs 5 lakh for his sister’s marriage. He spent his savings for renovation of house and purchasing a LED TV.
Khemraj Patel underwent Refrigeration and Air conditioning training after completing 12th. He initially worked for a contractor and now he is independently working in Kurud of Dhamtari district. Hsi monthly earning is around 15000 – 20000. He contributed Rs One lakh for construction of house and has purchased a bike also. A village boy Lekhram Verma received skills development training in Home Appliance Repairs. He is now working at Raipur and is earning Rs 10500 monthly salary. He supported his family in sister’s marriage as well as establishing DJ Sound System business for his brother.
Ashish Poddar is now looking after the air-conditioning system of Shri Shankaracharya Medical College and is earning a satisfactory salary. 12th pass Honendra Kumar initially worked under an electrical contractor and is now working independently. He is earning around Rs 15000 to Rs 20000 per month and is giving employment to two others. Subhash Sahu and Hemendra Kumar are successfully working as executives of finance companies. Kamaljeet Kaur of Sector 7 received office administration training at this centre and is now working as Skills Mobilisation Coordinator at Rastogi College of Skills. With her earnings, the girl is supporting studies of her siblings and is sharing some burden of household expenses also.
Kavita Paswan is now successfully working in HDFC Bank. ICICI Academy spokesperson informed that all the students are also trained in specific life skills such as etiquette and grooming, communication, basics about computer and financial literacy which helps them adapt to an organised work environment. In addition to training, ICICI Academy provides uniforms, meal and all relevant course material to the trainees. The Academy in Sector 6, Bhilai (Durg) has tied up with Tally Solutions, Voltas, Blue Star and Schneider Electric as knowledge partners to develop the course curriculum.
It has also tied up with over 400 employers as Industry Partners to provide employment opportunities to the students who get trained at the centre. In addition to ICICI Bank, organisations like Annapurna Finance, Future Retail (Big Bazar), Pantaloons (Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd.) and Caravan Appliances, among others have recruited trainees from the academy at Durg. At present, there are over 330 students undergoing training at the ICICI Academy in Durg. The Academy has so far provided 100% placement to all its eligible trained youth. Since inception, the academy in Durg has trained over 6400 individuals.