Nishikant Khajuria
For hundreds of educated youth from Jammu and Kashmir, their dream of working in big cities and metros with top Corporate Houses or even MNCs, would have never become a reality had `Udaan’ not provided them wings of skill development and a platform to take off their successful flight into the professional career.
Thanks to the Government of India’s Special Industry Initiative `Udaan’-a unique partnership between the Corporates, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and educated youth of J&K, for providing an opportunity to around eight thousand Graduate, Post Graduate and Diploma in Engineering candidates from this State to exhibit their professional abilities while working in reputed companies across India.
Whether it was Mudassir from Anantnag or Ishfaq Ahmad from Baramulla, Pankaj Choudhary from Purkhoo Camp or Sheeba from Jammu or Sawan Sharma from Kathua or many others like them, it was `Udaan’ that honed their skills for scripting a success story in beginning their respective professional life.
“Despite being B Tech from a reputed Institute, my knowledge was only theoretical as I did not know much about practical work like developing a website. But after my selection during a last year drive by Udaan and the subsequent three and half month training, I was introduced to the computer language and transformed into a professional outlook,” says Pankaj Choudhary, who is presently working with MBD Group as Consultant.
Similarly, according to Aditya Gupta of Jammu, who is working with TNS at Reliance 4G Project in Shimla, he experienced a huge gap from what they had studied at college and what were they expected to perform at job. “This gap was bridged by the technical training imparted under “Digital Wireless Technology” program by TNS under Udaan scheme through NSDC,” he added.
`Udaan’ is funded by Ministry of Home Affairs and implemented by NSDC. The program is focused on youth of Jammu & Kashmir who are Graduate, Post Graduate and three year Diploma Engineers. The aim is to provide skills and job opportunities to them. Simultaneously, the aim is also to provide exposure to corporate India towards the rich talent pool available in J&K. The target is to reach out to 40,000 youth in J&K over a period of 5 years.
It was observed that youth from J&K were unable to find employment in many companies as either they were unaware of the opportunity in the corporate world or the latter was unaware of the talent pool that existed in J&K. The principal focus of the Udaan programme is to create an ecosystem that would bridge this gap. The Udaan programme is designed to encourage corporates to travel to J&K, meet with the youth and hire aspirants who wish to explore the opportunity to work with corporates. Udaan provides a framework of support to the youth to travel, undergo training in firms and transit to work.
The process involves three steps. At step one, the prospective partner Corporates submit to NSDC proposals, which are evaluated and approved by Proposal Approval Committee of Udaan. Thereafter, candidates from Jammu and Kashmir register on the website and then partner corporates identify and select candidates through the website and selection drives.
At step two, selected candidates are requested to join Udaan partners training centres where they undergo training, ideally between 3 to 6 months, for a defined program.
Travel, boarding and lodging costs are reimbursed and besides this, a stipend is also provided to the candidates during the training period. A candidate once joins an Udaan training programme is not permitted to undergo any other Udaan training programs in any other corporate. And at the third and last step, at the end of training, candidates are assessed based on their training for a job position.
During the last three years, 18,803 candidates joined Udaan Programme for skill development and 10, 679 of them completed the training. More than eighty percent of them are placed in reputed Corporate Houses and are very much satisfied with their job.
According to Swan Sharma, who is working as Consultant in IMS Health, journey with Udaan started last year after she went through a telephonic interview with mobilization team of IMS. “As I am a science background student with B Tech in Biotechnology and M Tech in Food Processing Technology while IMS Health is a big pharmaceutical consulting firm, so I choose IMS for the training under Udaan. It’s a 6 months journey which included first few months of classroom training about soft skills and personality development and rest of the time for On Job Training in the company,” she informed.
“Udaan was introduced to me by word of mouth. Looking back in time, the decision of being affiliated to Udaan proved to be a liberating experience when I was employed in Accenture a year back in March 2015. Though an eventful journey, it made me stronger to struggle, and build firm foundations to climb the corporate ladder. After joining the training program with Accenture in Delhi, I realized that what one needs is a right chance and a right decision,” says Sheeba Raina.
NSDC is aiming to train over 40,000 youths from 22 districts of J&K over the next five years, covering the organized Retail, Financial Services, Information Technology and Telecom, Infrastructure, Oil and Gas, Hospitality, Manufacturing, Paramedics and Life Sciences sectors. So far, 68 leading corporate and public sector undertakings have partnered with the NSDC for the Udaan project. They include the NTPC, BHEL, ONGC, HAL, Canara Bank, Wipro, TCS, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Bajaj Allianz, Yes Bank, Religare, Accenture, Tata Motors, etc.
Despite a tremendous response and encouraging results, there were also some teething problems, which had been cause of worry for the Government as well as the partner Corporates. Over 18,000 youth registered themselves with ‘Udaan’ but some of them left the training midway for different reasons, like home sick feeling, other domestic grounds or conflicting interest level notwithstanding best of facilities available in form of boarding, lodging, stipend and travel re-imbursement, being provided by the NSDC through Corporate partners.
“My experience in the training was very good, the hostel accommodation was by far the best one I have ever seen. The accommodation had 24 hr housekeeping facility and on-call food delivery; food in the mess was also very good. The trainers explained each and every concept very clearly. It was a great experience all together,” says Mudassar Javed of Pulwama, presently working as Project Consultant with KPMG after completion of his training under Udaan.
Similar views were echoed by Ishfaq Ahmad of Baramulla and other candidates, who have successfully completed their training with different Corporate partners under Udaan programme.
While interacting with this scribe, these young professionals, who can be described as ambassadors of NSDC’s Udaan, also sought to quell the misinformation by some negative elements. “There are certain bad mouthing which has been done for the project, but if it makes any difference, I would like to say that wonderful and equal opportunities are given to each and every student enrolled in the program, but ultimately it’s up to the individual that in which direction they choose to sail their boat,” they said with the message to J&K youth to make the best out of this noble initiative of Ministry of Home Affairs and NSDC, an excellent platform to get the much required exposure into the corporate world.
Mudassir Ahmad of Baramulla, who is presently working with IMS Health as Research Officer after training under Udaan, has a family business in Kashmir and he also got an opportunity to go back to Valley while working with a company but he refused the offer. “For making a career in Corporate sector, I preferred to stay in Delhi, which provides numerous opportunities of growth, particularly the options to switchover easily ,” he explained while exhorting the J&K youth to come out of their comfort zone and empower themselves through Udaan instead of running for Government jobs.
What they say
Sheeba Raina
As a student of B Tech in CSE, it was cumbersome to demonstrate my skills, particularly being from J&K, where there is no avenue to search for a job and inculcate the habit of confidence. NSDC, through its Udaan programme, gave me an opportunity to explore my potential. After joining the training program with Accenture in Delhi, I realized that what one needs is a right chance and a right decision. It has helped me understand the corporate structure, honed my interpersonal skills, speak the corporate language with confidence and taught me the true definition of independence. The experience of working as a professional with Accenture proved to be an excellent platform for me to explore my strengths and conquer my weaknesses. The journey so far has been a great exploration, filled with learning, discovering new places, interacting with new people and getting familiar with the corporate environment.
Sawan Sharma
Udaan provided me a good platform to be a part of this leading Pharmaceutical firm, dealing with clients like World Bank, UNDP, DFIT, Niti Ayog, Bills and Melinda Gates Foundation, NSDC and many more. I underwent through classroom training where I gathered a good knowledge of pharma industry and many more terms in the same. I even attended the classes for soft skills under which I learned a lot of things that changed my personality as a whole from a student to a well versed corporate personality.
Mudassir Ahmed Malla
Udaan program helped me gain the knowledge required to work in a professional environment. The way the total program is built, makes the learning very interesting. Faculty comes with a deep professional exposure in their fields hence making the classroom discussion much more informative and practical. You will learn how to present ideas publicly in front of your class and leading companies; work in teams to complete assignments; work to deadlines and organize your time; debate and learn off each other. I truly feel that the skills covered in the papers have been invaluable in reaching this career goal.
Aditya Gupta
A year back, I was an unemployed fresher who was hunting for a job in the technical industry after I had completed my s B Tech in Electronics & Communication. Udaan was an extraordinary opportunity for me, as I got selected by TNS as a trainee and undergone a 3- month rigorous training on the new telecom technology. With the support of Udaan program and corporate partner, I am working with TNS, Reliance 4G Project at Shimla.
Mudasir Javed
The day I started my professional training with KPMG in India, I didn’t know what was going to happen. It was all new and strange, but I was excited to have started my training with a reputed organisation. During the training, I learned a lot, like how and what to expect in a corporate , how to crack interviews and countless other things. I enjoyed new experiences and leaned to be creative. Training provided me a stage where I was able to show my talent. This improved my skills and helped me in clearing the KPMG interview. I am thankful to NSDC, KPMG’s team working on Udaan and Government of India for this initiative.
Pankaj Choudhary
One suggestion I would like to give to the implementing partners of the project is to focus more on the candidate placements, which is also the need of the hour for people in Jammu and Kashmir. When the candidates will know that they will get placed in private sector at reasonable salaries, it will definitely be a booster and a source of motivation for them. I’d say that one must not leave this brilliant opportunity, and must fully avail the benefits provided by the Udaan.
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