Located in the central division of Bengaluru, Swathanthra Nagar is a slum locality consisting of about 600 households. The population of the dwelling is equal halves Hindu as well as Christian, constituting migrants from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh who have been living here for 3-4 generations. Most men work as stone quarry workers and daily wage laborers while women work as house help in the nearby neighborhoods.
The aim of this project is to improve the living conditions of youth in the slums of Swathanthra Nagar through job-oriented skill enhancement training. It is an effort towards bridging the gap between demand and supply of skilled manpower in the fast emerging services and retail sectors of modern India. This programme trains the urban underprivileged youth in English Proficiency, Basic Computer Education, Soft Skills and Personality Development.
Exposure Visits and Alumni Meets are also organized for the students to facilitate their direct interaction with ex-students and employers’ representatives to further help them in understanding the path ahead. Under this programme, the students are provided placement assistance as well, for which corporate links are made use of to organize placements, internships and exposure visits for the beneficiaries.
Smile Foundation has partnered with the India Community Development Service Society (ICDSS) to implement the STeP project.