In June 2011, Prag Foundation for Capacity Building along with its sister organisation, Alliance for Community Capacity Building in North East India, England, initiated the groundwork to participate in a National Skills Development Programme – a placement linked skill development programme of the Ministry of Rural Development (MORD), Government of India in response to the distress of the 500 million rural youths, with limited access to education and associated facilities.

The central aim of the project was to develop the skills and capacity building of the unemployed youths from households in poverty, which in turn would enable them to either secure placement in a job market or pursue sustainable self-employment opportunities through micro-enterprise. After completing all the groundworks, the centre at MIRZA in the Kamrup district of Assam, India was launched in 19th September 2011 as a joint venture between us and Centum Work Skills India.

The centre has been a grand success in developing the employability skills of 112 beneficiaries of Mirza area (3 batches – 2 in sales and 1 in retail) with 42 placements made by the centre.

The centre, however, had to be closed on 13th January 2012 due to non-availability of beneficiaries. The initial expenditure to this project was borne by the Alliance for Community Capacity Building in North East India (£5150)

Views from WSI, Mirza