Skills Art and Beyond signs MoU with leading microfinance institution “Adhikar” for skilling in Odisha

Skills Art and Beyond (SAB), one of the fastest growing entrepreneurial ventures in skill development and vocational education space. SAB has been working with various state and central government agencies including NSDC, National Green Highway Mission, NSKFDC, NBCFDC and others to provide skill development training programs across various regions of the country.

SAB has been focusing on developing skill-based training opportunities for unemployed youth at rural and difficult regions of the country. Some of the key sectors where SAB has been working include Healthcare, Handicrafts, Retail, Life Sciences, Capital Goods, IT/ITeS, Electronics, Tourism and Hospitality, Agriculture and Apparel. Currently, SAB has a network of 20+ training centers across 6 states and is planning to expand the operations to 10+ states by 2017-18.

As a strategic alliance, SAB has signed an MoU with Adhikar Microfinance, a 25-year- old social development organization working in the state of Odisha and Gujarat. The agreement has been signed on 30 th November 2016. Adhikar is one of the fastest growing microfinance institutions with a growth of 440% in assets under management over five years (ending 2015-16). Adhikar has its presence in 19 districts of the state with an outreach of more than 75,000 clients and a loan disbursement of more than Rs. 550 Crores till date. Adhikar is led by Mr. Mohammad Nooruddin Amin (Founder and President), an Ashoka fellow having more than 22 years of experience in social development sector.

The alliance is aimed at combating the unemployment and skill gap among the youth through creating skill development opportunities for rural and urban youth of Odisha. “SAB and Adhikar jointly aims to initiate training programs through 15 training centers in next 1 year with skilling opportunities in various sectors including Textile, Retail, Capital Goods, Agriculture, Construction, Tourism and Hospitality and IT/ITeS. Adhikar has a strong presence in Odisha and understands the needs and opportunities of rural/urban youth and SAB in association with Adhikar looks forward to a successful launch of Skill India Mission in Odisha.” said Karan Girdhar, Chief Operating Officer, SAB. The training programs shall be aligned to NSDC affiliated programs including Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).