Category: Livelihood Projects

The Southern part of Kolkata has places like Chetla, Tollygunge, Kalighat, and New Alipore etc which are filled with slums and the youth here are involved in jobs which pay on a daily basis and are contractual. The pay is not good and since they are unskilled the youth are used as cheap labor. The poor conditions of their families have compelled the youth to get involved in menial labor to earn a living for their family.

The main aim of the project is to identify such youth and give them skill based training so that they can have privileges in the job market and earn through white collar jobs. Under this programme Management and retail training, spoken English, personality development, computer education and other soft skills are imparted.

Smile Foundation has partnered with Tommorow’s Foundation for the implementation of this STeP project.

This project aims towards the upliftment of the socio-economically backward population of the slum clusters in Kolkata by providing them training for formal employment. Its main areas of focus are to empower the youth in the slums by inculcating essential skills in them for creating employment opportunities as most of the youth in these slums are deprived of a proper education or get minimum education. And most of the people here belong to the Muslim community and work as rag pickers, auto and taxi drivers, domestic servants and scavengers.

Through this project basic management and retailing skills, personality development skills, spoken English skills, computer and other soft skills are imparted so that the youth becomes job ready and can be recruited for white collar jobs. Girls and boys, both are encouraged to join in the programme and regular counseling sessions are held so that the individual does hi/her best in the programme.

Smile Foundation has partnered with Seva Kendra Calcutta for the implementation of this STeP project.

Kolkata, a major metropolitan city of India has been growing at a fast rate over the past few decades but the development has also bought along with it hoards of problems. Youth from the rural areas and neighboring states have been pouring into the city which has given rise to major problems of unemployment because they are unskilled and uneducated most of the times or partially educated. These youth get involved into daily wage earning to make both ends meet. The actual potential of the youth in these situations remain untapped.

This project aims to improve the living conditions of these youth and their families by imparting skill based education and empowering them to attain white collar jobs. Under this project basic management and retail skills, personality development skills, spoken English training, computer skills and other soft skills is imparted.

Smile Foundation has partnered with Sunderban Banamalipur Research and Development Centre (SBDRC) for the implementation of this STeP project.

With India’s Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), and Mumbai’s two Pepsi plants in Govandi and Mahul, it is a much known place. But it is also in news for other reasons such as for being the country’s largest dumping ground. People of lower income group live in these areas working as scavengers in the garbage dumps and hence, do not even think about education or hygiene. . Children and youth in these areas are either drop-outs or left studies after completing their 10th or 12th standard.

This project aims to bring these youth and impart to them basic skills which would make the job market more accessible for them. Under this project basic management skills, spoken English, personality development and other soft skills are imparted so that the youth acquire these skills and get placed at proper white collar jobs. Placements are also done at the end of the project.

Smile Foundation has partnered with Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Shikshan Va Arogya Prasarak Mandal for implementing this project.

Haiderpur is a village of semi urban area located in North West Delhi with around 85000 individuals residing in its various slums, clusters and colonies. Haiderpur along with its six sister blocks- Shalimar village, Sahipur, Badli, Rampur, Samaypur and Rajapur have a population in which maximum people belong to the lower income groups and have less education. it consists of a mixed bag of individuals with around 70% of its population consisting of migrants from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. These migrants work majorly in the unorganized sector as daily wage workers, domestic workers, rickshaw pullers, rag pickers and masons. Youth in the area constitute 40% of the population of the area. They lack english speaking skills which seems to be a major hindrance in their pursuit of developing their lives. There is an urgent need to cater to the needs of these individuals and make them market ready for their effective contribution in the growth of the nation.

The aim of this project is to train the youth in basic retail and management skills, spoken English skills, personality development, computer and other soft skills. The project will address the acquisition of knowledge, practical competencies, knowhow and attitudes necessary to perform a certain trade or occupation in the employment sector. It will also be crucial in enhancing competitiveness and contributing to social inclusion, decent employment and poverty reduction.

Smile Foundation has partnered with Pratigya Educational Initiative Society for the implementation of this STeP project.

Old Washermanpet locally known as “Pazhaya Vannarapettai” is located in the northern part of Chennai, a city situated on the east coast of the southern India. There are 8 major slums with 1.5 lakh population in the area. Majority of the population are migrants from different districts of Tamil Nadu. Most of them are into rag picking; daily wage labors in construction fields and group employees. A survey in the slums reveal more than 55,000 youth who have completed their 7th and 10th class and remain as unskilled laborers. Hence a lot of potential is lost in the process and people continue living in their old settings.

This project aims to focus on a certain syllabus of Management training, spoken English course, personality development, retail management skills etc so that hidden abilities of the candidate can be pulled out. The program also strives to improve or enhance the skills of the candidates by proving other soft skills and to improve the quality life of the poor candidate by placing them in organized sectors.

Dum Dum in Kolkata has always been a problematic area as it has been filled with refuges since partition. People from East Bengal and the other side of the border have been pouring in the industrial city and as a result there has been a dramatic increase of population, unemployment and unskilled labor. People do not realize the importance of education and do not allow their children to study getting them engaged in labor works from an early age.

The project targets these young people in the area who are unemployed or engaged in unskilled labor works and are provided skill based training. The course modules for this training covers subjects like Spoken English, Computer and Management skills, Personality Development and other soft skills. The project will also strive to bring prospective employers to the meet the trained students and help them find suitable employment in various multi-brand retail chains etc – which are coming up in all parts of the city.

Smile Foundation has partnered with Narayntala Mass Communication Society for the implementation of this STeP programme.

Gurgaon in Haryana is the area that is still back ward in terms of the underprivileged segment of the society. There exists huge disparities in income levels, skills, education and above all clean and hygienic living condition Beside Female Feticide, practice of child marriage, lower social status of women are endemic to this area. The youth do not get proper guidance in terms of education and employment and hence get employed on a daily wage earning basis and this does not allow the utilization of their potential.

This project aims to train such youth in basic management and retail skills, spoken English skills, personality development, computer education and other soft skills so that they can stop laboring under the daily work daily pay schemes and get engaged in proper white collar jobs.

Smile Foundation has partnered with Maxvision Social Welfare Society for the implementation of this STeP Programme.

Even though Ksaba in Kolkata is a developing area, there are many places within the place where a lot of potential is going to waste because of the lack of proper guidance and awareness. Even though the youth there have completed their education or are continuing their formal education and have aspirations to undergo technical training on computer basics and allied courses including some financial packages to make themselves employable, they seriously lacks soft skill training and entrepreneurial skills which does not allow them to gain meaningful employment.

This programme aims to focus on these under privileged youth and train them in Basic management and retail skills, computer education, spoken English, personality development and other soft skills so that they can acquire the needed skills to gain employment at places in which their potentials can be utilized and the lives of the youth get better.

Smile Foundation has partnered with Hijli Inspiration for the implementation of this STeP programme.

Partner Organization: Green Tara Foundation This project has been implemented mainly to uplift the condition of women and youth in the Cheeta Camp in Mumbai where the conditions of living have improved quite a bit but the condition of most women remain sad because of gender biases and most women are married off at an early age not even allowing them to go out and explore the outside world.

Through this project women and youth are given skill based training i.e. basic management skills, soft skills and computer skills, personality development and counseling is also provided to these girls and youth so that they understand the importance of the programme for them.

Smile Foundation has partnered with Green Tara Foundation for implementing this project.