Holistic Livelihoods and Development at Scale
Providing Livelihood through Skilling at Scale
The Problem Statement:
Some of the startling economic facts :
- As on June 30, 2022, the unemployment rate in India is reported to be at 7.8% (urban – 7.3% & rural – 8.0%).
- The unemployment rate in India is lower now. But the disturbing factor is the lowlabor force participation rate. (LFPR).
- It indicates that the fall in unemployment rate is simply because millions have left the livelihoods market. And they have even stopped looking for self or wage employment.
- They believe that there are no livelihood opportunities for them. And that they do not have the required skills for it.
Objective
Yuva Parivartan works with these millions of youth who are not even considering livelihoods. Through our interventions, YP helps them to learn skills for alternative livelihoods, in a way show them a way to earn their income. YP’s model helps millions of youths to become part of the national economic mainstream and help them become contributing members to the Indian GDP.
Further, while there has been rapid development and growth in cities and urban areas, rural areas continue to face many problems like poverty, poor standards of living, lack of infrastructural facilities, distress in agriculture, unemployment, over exploitation of nature resources, etc. Over time, this negativity impacts their health, nutrition, education, and general social wellbeing of households.
Through our rural livelihood intervention, we are gearing up for the Bharat@100 that resides in the villages. The model will work with the rural population, providing them farm-based and non-farm-based skills for new livelihood and income generation.
We also create livelihood opportunities through skilling for underprivileged youths and young adults living in rural & peri-urban areas, who are unemployed, demotivated to earn livelihood.
YP’s mission is to provide a second chance to the deprived youth and to empower women, through sustainable livelihood opportunities based on technical, business and life skill training programs, which will lead to income generation.
We primarily work in villages & small towns across India. The current focus of our work remains in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka & Goa.
Project Concept
1
The program is an integration of vocational & farm-based skilling interventions and community infrastructure development
Yuva Parivartan (YP), established in 1998, is a flagship movement of the Kherwadi Social Welfare Association (KSWA), a Trust founded in 1928 by the first premier of Independent Bombay Province, Mr. B.G. Kher, was formally launched by the then President Dr. A.P.J. Kalam in 2003
YP’s overall mission is to provide livelihood through skilling at scale.
YP provides a second chance to deprived youth and empowers women, through sustainable livelihood opportunities based on vocational (farm-based & non-farm based), businesses and life skill training programs, which lead to attitudinal change and income generation.
Over the last 24 years, YP has trained and certified more than 1.25 million students and helped them in their journey towards sustainable livelihoods across 18 states in India by conducting over 100 traditional skilling courses, covering 20 sectors. In FY 22-23, itself, YP plans to train and help provide livelihoods to more than 2 lakh youth and women in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Telangana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
In addition, YP also runs an Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP) in two districts of Maharashtra – Palghar and Gadchiroli implementing interventions in agriculture, livestock, water, sanitation and public health.
Impact achieved so far
Presented below is an overview of YP’s impact measured through internal and external studies.
A. Beneficiaries
- Total number of beneficiaries trained & certified since launch – more than 1.25 million students
- Major thrust (80%) on small towns and villages
- 70% of beneficiaries are women – empowering women
- 91% of urban & 65% of rural beneficiaries are earning a living – income generation
- 52% of beneficiaries are primary family wage earners – impacting entire households
- 86% of the youth who have passed out of urban centres, are approached for advice on their career by friends and family – creating role models
- 93% of urban pass-outs and 78% of rural pass-outs reported increased confidence after undergoing the livelihood programs
- 99% of the urban pass-outs and 85% of the rural pass-outs indicated that the livelihood programs gave them the necessary skills to start their own business – increasing the readiness to start a single owner/micro enterprise.
B. (Social) Return on Investment for sponsors
YP calculates the ROI for the funds provided by the donors, using the industry accepted formula:
(ROI) = Average Annual Income Generation x% of students earning livelihood / Per Student Training Cost
The ROI in the first year of donation itself is 9 times the amount invested.
A grant of ₹9,000 per student for our livelihood development centre, results in an average annual income of ₹220,000 earned by 70% of our students in a single year. The student continues to earn the income in the following years, based on the one-time investment put down by the donor.
YP now intends to leverage and synergise the scale and spread of our skilling programs along with the expertise and insights from our IRDP team to design & implement holistic programs for sustainable rural livelihoods for a cluster of villages.
To increase our reach & scale, we partner with other like-minded NGOs, institutes & individuals involved in skill training.
We use blended learning & digital content, offline, online & physical (hybrid) training delivery formats & leveraging of social media to mobilize students.
Our Overall Approach
YP has identified four areas of work, which form the pillars of its unique model and methodology:
- Community engagement to mobilize youth and prepare them to unleash their potential.
- Livelihood training which includes vocational skills, work readiness and life skills EDP, financial literacy and digital literacy.
- Industry partnership for creating industry relevant curriculum, industry exposure and on job training.
- Livelihood support – to get them successfully aligned to the mainstream.
Some features of YP’s effective project implementation plan:
A. Need Assessment
YP conducts extensive need assessment studies before initiating a skilling project in a region. The need assessment focuses on the skilling demand vis-à-vis the livelihood opportunities available. Market studies are conducted with the local industries to understand the skilling and manpower demands. Parallel surveys are conducted with the youth to understand their aspirations to be able to effectively match the skill gaps of the local industries.
B. Customized & Comprehensive Delivery Mechanisms
- Livelihood Development Centres (LDCs) are typically located in slums or rural backward areas and conduct short-term employment-oriented courses for the youth. YP has 23 LDCs in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka & Delhi. There is a plan to add 70 more LDCs this year (2022).
- Rural Livelihood Development Centres (Village Camps) take the vocational skills courses to the rural interiors and tribal belts thereby reaching out to areas where, setting up a Livelihood Development Centre might not be feasible. YP runs the village camps in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, and Telangana & Andhra Pradesh.
- Partnerships involve identifying, training and monitoring ‘like-minded’ NGOs to run the YP model of livelihoods training.
- Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP) covers training of farmers for improved agricultural practices, women empowerment through Self Help Groups (SHG) formation, water resource management and animal husbandry to improve the livelihoods of small & marginal farmers in Maharashtra.
C. Monitoring & Evaluation
The monitoring & evaluation is done at the program and the project levels.
At the program level:
- Weekly examinations are conducted during the training, while a final examination is conducted post the completion of the program.
- 70% student attendance is compulsory for the final examination.
- A joint certification is issued by YP & National Skill Development Council (NSDC).
- Key metrics for the evaluation of the program is based on the number of students completing the program against the number of students connected to livelihood opportunities.
- Longevity of students continuing to work after 3 to 6 months, their earnings, non-economic parameters like confidence, contribution to household expenses, savings and assets built up are gauged.
- The data collected on students during the admission/enrolment/training and livelihood linkages is stored on our central repository software system (Ops App). Student-wise data can be procured for review and reporting.
- 2 surveys, one conducted at the start & one at the end of the training program, to get students’ feedback on training, trainer, examination, placements, etc.
D. Social Impact Tracking
YP has set up a call centre to track the impact of the training and to monitor the progress of the youth. This process gives us immediate feedback on the program, on an ongoing basis. The feedback is then looped back to the teams on the ground to help them make corrections and/or improvements in their working, that further enhance the effectiveness of the program.
E. Sustainability
Sustainability at YP is focused at three levels:
- Student Sustainability: The program provides students with training in technical vocational skills, largely of a practical nature, with exposure visits and guest lectures to give the students an insight into the real-world work culture that awaits them once they have completed their training.
- Course modules along with financial literacy and entrepreneurship, help in reducing vulnerability.
- Counselling sessions are conducted on a regular basis while the students are still a part of the training program. Even after the completion of the training, students are encouraged to get in touch with the YP team.
Impact or Reach & Scale
Providing livelihood with a rural focus, through training – “at Scale” for the underprivileged youth is the raison d’etre of Yuva Parivartan.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the communities and economy, and the adverse impact it had on NGOs in general, YP has been able to help and continue to skill and support earning livelihoods, to migrants, COVID-19 impacted families and our targeted beneficiaries.
The number of students whom we have impacted continues to grow each year as noted below:
- FY 2020: 38,000
- FY 2021: 43,500
- FY 2022: 80,000
- FY 2023: 200,000 (projected)
YP is reinventing and reenergizing itself, as we scale up to skill and help provide livelihoods to the next 500,000 youth over the next 2 years.
Our programs are aimed at different geographies.
Project II:
Village Camps - Providing Rural Livelihoods through Skilling at Scale
Yuva Parivartan’s Village Camp model aims to empower the poor rural youth with skill sets (farm & allied & non-farm based) for livelihood & income generation.
It promotes livelihoods & alleviates poverty through skill development.
Models’ approach
Model 1: Rural Camps run with a focus on skilling rural youth for farm-based and farm allied livelihoods.
This training and the Entrepreneurship Development Program helps to train and motivate the students to take up self-employment.
Model 2: Adopt a village cluster to run skilling programs for farm-based and allied courses including multi-skilling.
- Rural Livelihood Development Centre offers over 70 courses across 20 sectors which are aligned to the standards recognised by both, the industry and National Skill Development Corporation & Skill India.
- Livelihood Development Centres
The aim is to mobilise the forgotten youth of urban slums to lead meaningful lives.
Located in & around slum localities in urban & peri-urban cities of India, the Livelihood Development Centres are solely run & managed by Yuva Parivartan. These centres are used by the socially & economically challenged youth of the locality to develop different means of living. The youth can choose from a range of multiple vocational skill training programs (farm & allied & non-farm based) that are conducted for the income & livelihood (wage & self) generation.
Industry relevant curriculum approved by the National Skill Development Corporation & Skill India supported by industry exposure, on-job training & projects, is available for over 100 courses spread across 20 sectors
