Vedanta Lanjigarh SDP: Transforming Kalahandi rural youth into skilled professionals, driving change

Lanjigarh (Odisha) [India], February 27:  Boosting up employability with comprehensive trainings and enhanced employment opportunities, the ambitious Skill Development Programmes (SDP) of Vedanta Lanjigarh (India’s leading producer of smelter-grade alumina and a subsidiary of Vedanta Aluminium) is effecting a transformative change by empowering youth through its skill training initiative in the tribal belt of Odisha’s Kalahandi district.

Vedanta’s flagship initiative SDP promises to uplift communities by enhancing rural livelihoods and driving economic growth aligned with the Government’s Viksit Bharat mission.

Elaborating on SDP’s significance, Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya, CEO, Vedanta Alumina Business, said, “At Vedanta, our vision is to leverage the potential of the local youth, our demographic dividend, by offering them comprehensive industry-aligned training.”

“Our initiative aims to providing the local youth with the requisite access to promising career paths by integrating them into the socio-economic mainstream. This transformative programme exemplifies our commitment to building a skilled and self-reliant workforce in the region we operate,” he averred.

Pertinent to note that, Vedanta’s SDP directly aligns with UN SDG Goals 1 – “No Poverty” and UN SDG Goal 8 – “Decent Work and Economic Growth”.

This initiative aims to train more than 1200 rural youth over the course of three years using a two-pronged approach – offering both training as well as entrepreneurial and employment avenues.

Aligning with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat in collaboration with Odisha Skill Development Authority (OSDA) and NABARD, this pivotal initiative has successfully trained 15 batches of students in food and beverage trade.

Providing access to an extensive network of over 12 placement partners across eleven (11) states, an impressive 475 out of 632 trained youths have been successfully placed in prestigious organizations, such as Absolute Barbeques Nation, Golf Club, Club Mahindra, Belgian Waffles, etc.

By helping them to secure a stable livelihood of an average annual package of ₹ 1.2 lakh, these placements have significantly augmented and leveraged their family incomes by integrating them into the socio-economic mainstream.