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Jamshedpur, March 7 (Source - The Telegraph): Benjamin Mukhi (28) hails from a family of six. A school dropout, Benjamin spent the days roaming the streets with his friends. That was till he heard about the employability training programme of cement major Lafarge India.
Mukhi enrolled for the programme along with his friends and today he is a permanent employee of a leading city hotel.
Like any other youngster, Ragini Sharma was on the lookout for a source of income. She too heard about the training programme from her college and enrolled. Today, she is a teacher, and is supporting her family.
Benjamin and Ragini are no exceptions. Of the 106 youngsters who had enrolled in the first batch of the training course, 102 are now working with various local organisations.
As part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, the Jojobera-based cement plant of Lafarge India launched the employability training programme, covering villages located in the vicinity of the plant.
Christened Ek Mouka, the programme aims to develop skills of rural unemployed and under priviledged youths and link them to employment opportunities in areas close to Jamshedpur.
The three-month programme, introduced at the end of 2009, imparts training in subjects like spoken English, basic computer knowledge, hospitality, automobile engineering, customer relations and sales.
“I hail from a farmer’s family. My father earns just Rs 1,000 a month. When I came to know about the course, I decided to join. Today I am working as a staff of Ginger Hotels. I can now support my family,” said a proud Raju Kumar Singh.
Priti Mayee Gochhayat, who works with Big Bazaar, said, “The best part of the training is that it makes you ready to enter the job market confidently and with the required skill sets.”
