February 01, 2014

National Skills Development Corporation and Accenture Equip Indian Youth for Employment



First Jammu and Kashmir students earn certificates and find employment


NEW DELHI; Feb. 1, 2014 – An integrated, multi-year skills development program created by Accenture in collaboration with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) awarded certificates to the first 18 students who graduated from Udaan initiative, an effort to help young people in Jammu and Kashmir gain skills needed by the corporate sector.

Accenture and NCDC’s collaboration, announced in November 2013, intends to equip 3,300 youth with employment skills over the next five years and provide additional support for job placement. After the successful training, fourteen students have already secured employment.

Recognizing the success of the program, Mr. S. Ramadorai, Chairman of the National Skill Development Authority and NSDC, said, “My heartiest congratulations to the students. You make your state and the country proud. Our nation needs a new direction and I believe this is what change looks like. India is in the midst of a revolution of aspirations and we look forward to making India a highly skilled, inclusive and progressive nation through similar projects. It is inspiring to see the way the corporate sector has come forward to skill India.”

Udaan is a special initiative under the aegis of the Ministry of Home Affairs, with the NSDC mandated to work with the corporate sector to bring about a positive change for job training and employment opportunities in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Accenture is extremely pleased with the NSDC and other organizations involved in making this project a huge success. We joined this important project last August and have conducted four recruitment drives and selected 37 Udaan candidates who are already undergoing training. The program participants have learned new skills and have been hired by some top businesses in the country,” said Accenture India Chairman Avinash Vashistha.

The work reflects Accenture’s global corporate citizenship initiative, Skills to Succeed, which plans to equip 500,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business.

Commenting on the progress of Udaan, Dilip Chenoy, NSDC’s CEO and managing director, said, “Udaan is a ground-breaking initiative and having Accenture as a partner is a perfect fit since it has significant experience in successfully running similar training programs. This project was conceived and implemented as a socio-economic commitment that would provide an opportunity for the youth of J&K to look beyond the state and benefit from the corporate opportunities throughout the country and globally. We are happy to see that it has started to show concrete results.”

Learn more about Accenture’s work with governments and public service agencies around the world and its global program, Delivering Public Service for the Future.

About Project Udaan
Under the Special Industry Initiative of Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) has been mandated to work with the corporate sector in bringing about a positive change in the employment and skills space of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The Special Industry Initiative, known as “Udaan,” targets the youth of J&K, graduates, postgraduates and third- year engineering diploma holders, who are seeking global and local opportunities. Udaan has made great leaps, with 43 leading corporations having joined with Udaan to commit to train 61,113 candidates in the coming five years. Over 3,000 candidates have already joined training with the corporates at various locations in India.

About National Skill Development Corporation
The National Skill Development Corporation, formed under the Ministry of Finance, is a unique public-private partnership with 51 percent equity held by the private sector and the balance of 49 percent held by the Union Government. Formed in 2010, NSDC is a professionally run not-for-profit company that includes 28 Sector Skill Councils and 114 training partners with more than 2500 training centers spread across 352 districts in the country. NSDC’s goal is to help train 150 million Indians by 2022.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 281,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$28.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2013. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

For more information on the National Skill Certification and NSDC kindly visit the website and Facebook page:
www.nsdcindia.org
https://www.facebook.com/NSDCIndiaOfficial

You can also check out the latest news on NSDC on You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/user/NSDCIndiaOfficial\

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Niren Yadav: +91 98717 41891
Niren.yadav@ogilvy.com
Garima Misra: +91 99101 06993
Garima.misra@ogilvy.com


Contact:

Puja Gupta
Accenture
+ 91 11 429 80247
+ 91 981 888 3851 (mobile)
puja.x.gupta@accenture.com