Youth in Pimpri Chinchwad will gain access to livelihoods through credible information, career counselling, vocational skills, placement and post-placement support. The design of vocational skilling courses will factor in the skills needed by industry, thus enhancing youth employability. The donor anchor partner for Kaushalyam is Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, funding majority of the operational costs of the project, civic officials said.
Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Singh, Sanjay Modi, Senior Director, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation; Deepak Karandikar, President MCCIA; Pradeep Bhargava, Chairman, MCCIA Electronics Cluster Foundation; Annu Mehta, Global Development Incubator, Dr Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman, Lighthouse Communities; and Ruchi Mathur, Cofounder and Vice Chairperson, Lighthouse Communities Foundation were present at the ceremony where the project was launched recently. Over 70 employers, industry associations, and donor partners came together for the event.
The project, ‘Kaushalyam-Youth and Business Growing Together’ was launched at a special event at the premises of the Nigdi Lighthouse in Pimpri-Chinchwad. Kaushalyam is a one-of-its-kind, collaborative project that will try to bridge the gap between youth aspirations and industry demand and create shared value for all stakeholders in the city, the PCMC chief said.
While announcing the Kaushalyam project, the PCMC commissioner emphasised the critical role of initiatives like Kaushalyam in aligning youth potential with the evolving demands of the job market.
“Kaushalyam represents a significant stride toward empowering our youth and fostering sustainable economic growth. It is a collaborative effort, thus enabling the impact of Kaushalyam to happen at scale. Such collaborative platforms are the need of the hour,” he said.
Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman of Lighthouse Communities Foundation, emphasised the need for active involvement from all stakeholders. “After successful launches in PMC, PCMC, Mumbai, Aurangabad, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Hyderabad with our initiatives impacting over 1.5 lakh youth, we are delighted to be a partner in this landmark mission. Kaushalyam calls for collective responsibility and we look forward to the support of government, donors, employer partners and civil society members to support and enhance this initiative,” he said.
