The set targets were not achieved in the set time period mainly due to the fact that it was a new project and it took time to build rapport with the villagers and partner with the organisations. The untimely rains and harsh weather conditions posed a major hurdle in completing the repair work at the prospective computer centre site. The efforts to partner with a private I.T.I in Delhi did not materialize despite regular talks and visits due to some internal issues at the I.T.I hence Youthreach had to reapply the efforts to tie up with Government I.T.I Nalagarh for initiating the OMNI skill development programme. The process got delayed due to examinations at the Govt. I.T.I and change of contact person at I.T.I.

NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Youthreach conducted a 6 day need assessment study in the villages located in the vicinity of Unipatch’s factory in Nalagarh, Himachal Pradesh. A total of 8 villages in a 3 kilometer radius were covered during the survey. Recommendations base on the interaction with the respondents and the stakeholders and the observations of the researchers were submitted to Indag Rubber Limited in a detailed report.

The need assessment indicated some of the possible areas of intervention that were urgently required in most of the villages. The areas of possible interventions were arrived at after matching needs from multiple stakeholders who were part of this study.

Possible interventions cited in study are as following

1. Healthcare facility - Healthcare facility like a permanent and regular dispensary with doctors and nurses for common ailments and deliveries is a requirement. It can be common to all the nearby villages. It can be addressed by taking responsibility for the management and regular functioning of the already existing dispensaries in the identified region. Ad-hoc medical camps, weekly doctors, distribution of medicines are not helpful as they need facility on a regular basis. Permanent medical dispensaries in interior parts with doctor, nurse and medication is required. Awareness of govt. schemes as well as company’s CSR initiatives needs to be given as well.
2. Sanitation - Proper toilet facilities are required but common toilets will not work due to responsibility issues. Also, behaviour modification and awareness regarding hygiene is a must. The issue of ODS should be addressed in a holistic manner. Building of toilets should be done with the active involvement of the communities. Proper programme has to be designed for behaviour modification. There is an urgent need for a planned drainage system.
Education – After 10th standard, a trend of dropout is seen in the studied villages. It is mainly due to lack of employment opportunities. People find it useless to spend on education, as the rate of return on education is minimal. So it is the need of the hour to change the parental and children’s perception about education. Education requires focused intervention. The first step should be to improve the quality of education in schools. Training of teachers, remedial education centres should be initiated to address the same. It was observed that student career guidance is lacking. As a result, skills cannot be honed and potential tapped. For this purpose, there is an urgent need of training schools in the area.
One of the important needs is to provide the youth with skills for employability. The index of development is not to be gauged in terms of the number of educational institutes, but also in terms of the quality of education being imparted and the employability of that education

3. Promoting digital literacy - The existing gap in the area of digital literacy could be addressed through a proper digital literacy programme. There could be two ways of doing it. 1) Setting up of digital literacy centres in schools 2) Setting up of digital literacy centres in village/ villages. Collaborations can be made with Intel or Microsoft for the implementation of the programme. Connecting the rural community and its members to the digital world is vital for the development and social progress in the coming years.
4. Livelihood options – Livelihood options are needed in almost every village as mentioned above. Options need to be devised for three categories: (1) those who are literate and educated; (2) those who have agricultural lands and; (3) those who are illiterate and landless. A systematic implementation and monitoring of various programmes in the area of; irrigation techniques and water management; Employment generation, skill training, entrepreneurship development and placement assistance programmes, establishing village/block level centres for career guidance and vocational training are various options that need to be well-thought out and explored for sustainable changes.
5. Untapped potential of livestock - Integrated dairy development plan, dairy cum rural development plan, and promotion of animal husbandry. Integrated Dairy development has vast scope. Most villagers have buffaloes, but use it for domestic consumption. Also breeding of buffalo needs to be improved with the use of high yielding ones. SHGs can be mobilized for this purpose. The panchayat has a homeless cow shelter. It is properly managed by the community. A total number of 6-7 caretakers are working round the clock at the shelter. The amalgamation of the cow shelter with existing livestock activity in the villages would be a viable option for an integrated dairy development plan. Fisheries may be developed as there are ponds in the villages. It could be a viable livelihood option for some section of the community. However the community needs to be consulted before undertaking such an activity
6. Water harvesting – Water harvesting should be promoted in order to address the issue of irrigation. With increased availability of water multiple cropping pattern can be taken up
7. Infrastructure - Infrastructure like roads needs to be made such that it should have a longer life. And the repairing and maintenance of the infrastructure like roads, street lights, etc. needs to be done through consultative mechanism between the company and the district Administration. This is the only way to reduce the burden and improve the situation. Otherwise the burden on company’s CSR activity on infrastructural development will be very high

PROCESS TO BE FOLLOWED FOR INITIATING THE OMNI SKILL DEV. PROG.

ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED

• Youthreach researched and found a couple of prospective organisations to collaborate and initiate the programme. A detailed project proposal was submitted to Guru Harkrishan Private I.T.I. However the proposal rejected by their chairperson on grounds that the institute will not get any financial benefit from the project. Youthreach also approached Don Bosco Technical Institute, Okhla, Delhi for conducting the skill development programme however as they do not run any moto mechanics course they declined the proposal.
• Finally after conducting regular visits a proposal on tyre engineering was submitted to Govt. I.T.I at Nalagarh. In the month of March the govt. I.T.I accepted the proposal and agreed to collaborate with Youthreach to initiate the OMNI Skill development programme.
• A person incharge from Unipatch Rubber Ltd. Delhi, Mr. Mathur along with our project coordinator Mr. Amardeep Singh visited the I.T.I to interact with the I.T.I staff members and to assess the basic requirements that need to be addressed to initiate the programme. All the requirements were noted down by Mr. Amardeep who will further take action to complete the same for the proper and timely initiation of the programme.
• The MOU has been prepared and sent to be signed to the I.T.I. However as the designated person to sign the same has been transferred to another location it will take some time to receive the MOU.
• The construction of laboratory as per the guidelines provided by the personnel from Unipatch Delhi is under progress. All the instruments and equipments required for the course will be provided to the ITI and an entire laboratory will be set up by the name of “Omni Skill Development Laboratory”.
• The course content has been chalked out for the programme. The course will be of 140 hours which will be distributed over 6 months to one year of the course period. The course will be taught to the students in addition to the existing motor mechanic course.
• CVs will be invited for the post of a trainer for this programme. Post selection of the candidate he/she will undergo a specialized training by experts from Unipatch to impact the curriculum in an effective manner.
• The process of certification has been determined through a discussion between the I.T.I authorities, Unipatch and Youthreach. Youthreach team will take adequate measures to implement the same.