Zinc Kaushal Kendra Helping India’s Youth toPrepare for a Brighter Tomorrow

Udaipur : Deepamala, a hardworking woman hailing from Dariba village, Rajsamand district, Rajasthan had a life full of ups and downs. Faced with an uncertain future for herself and her child, her prospects seemed dismal until she heard of Zinc Kaushal Kendra, Dariba. She then started exploring the various courses and later enrolled in the GST-Tally Course after learning about them at the center.After her graduation, she appeared in an interview with ICICI Lombard and was selected as a Relationship Manager, earning a salary of Rs. 4,20,000 per annum. She credits the training from Zinc Kaushal Kendra, Dariba for her success. Even, Mohit Kumar Garg went through real hardships in life after graduation. He belongs to Nagari village, Chittorgarh, he sought employment to be financially independent but due to lack of professional experience he was facing rejections. He then joined Zinc Kaushal Kendra, Chittorgarh and opted for BFSI- Business Development Executive programme.After completing his BFSI Training, he got placed in a reputed banking firm as an Executive in Bhilwara and started earning well. His dedication to work brings him many praises from his co-workers and superiors. There are many more such success stories similar to Deepmala and Mohit who through Zinc Kaushal Kendra, an initiative by Hindustan Zinc are becoming self-reliant & employment ready.

The social and economic empowerment of the community in the vicinity of its operational units has always been a priority for Hindustan Zinc. Various education, health, livestock intervention, and other need-based programs are being conducted. Under CSR many efforts are being made by Hindustan Zinc to empower the community specially to strengthen the future of local rural youth by Skilling them through their Zinc Kaushal Kendra. The company’s sincere efforts to provide employment to the youth are progress towards success by Skilling more than 3400 youth and employing more than 2700 trainees.

The main reason for unemployment in the rural areas of the state is the lack of skills among the youth. To overcome this, Hindustan Zinc has collaborated with many not-for-profit organizations to conduct skill development programs around its operational areas. 

Making a difference

The Zinc Kaushal Kendra was initially established with the goal to offer short-duration intensive courses in different trades and profiles, such as General Duty Assistant, Microfinance Executive, Electrician, Security Guard, Retail Sales Executive, Data Entry Operator, Customer Relationship Management, Food and Beverages Services, Front Office Associate, BFSI-Business Development Executive, Auto Sales Consultant, etc.

Thetraining, they receive via the Zinc Kaushal Kendras, then, helps bridge the gaps within the skills ecosystem. These Kendras also helpto foster an entrepreneurial spirit among the programs target audiencevia the provision of technical support and assistance with non-financial facilitation for starting a business.

The company’s efforts, however, do not revolve simply around the provision of assistance to find gainful employment; Hindustan Zinc also strives to help foster robust business ecosystems in the regions where it operates since the company believes that such an ecosystem is fundamental to the community’s growth.

Coming together for India’s youth

The Zinc Kaushal Kendra initiativeis implemented with the help of dedicated field coordinators:  two people are assigned to every one of these centers and they are responsible for the general promotion of the programme in the community and the identification ofpeople eligible to receive skill development training.

To further ensure efficacy of such mobilization, the programmeendeavors to identify effective, efficient, and scalable methods to help encourage students and channel them towards skill training programmes.

Bringing the efforts to fruition

Training is of course another key aspect of the project and that is why Hindustan Zinc lays abundantfocus on the training set up, including the materials used, infrastructure offered, etc. The Zinc Kaushal Kendras are then equipped with labs, IT and soft skill classrooms, etc. along with a safety gallery and a library. TheKendras also includea team of experienced and qualified trainers, host guest faculty,arrange industry exposure tours, etc. That is not all though – the youth who are trained under the purview of this programme receives₹5,000 as initial placement support as well as post-training placement support. Furthermore, the programme also tracks its trainees for a year and offers long-term retention support as and when the trainees may need them.

The training process is organized into three phases, namely, pre-training, training, and post-training. The pre-training process includes assessment of skills needs, career counselling, etc., whereas the training process includes trade and soft skills development sessions and on-the-job training among other things. Finally, the last leg of the process is post-training which includes job fairs, mentoring and support, refresher training, placements, etc.