DESHPANDE SUSANDHI FELLOWSHIP (DSF)

Why

One of the major issues faced in rural areas is the lack of access to basic infrastructure and resources. Such shortages come at the expense of rural populations that do not possess any specific set of skills, especially in comparison to their competitive urban counterparts. Many a times, rural people who move to the cities in search of better opportunities end up doing low-paid jobs. Rural youth in particular are greatly disadvantaged. They are also a widely untapped resource for improving livelihoods and creating meaningful impact, if equipped with the right skills.

In January 2011, DSF was created to specifically serve rural youth with the goal of equipping them with the necessary skills required to enhance their employability, open up opportunities and give them the ability to improve their financial status. In order to guarantee an effective ecosystem, inclusiveness is a vital component. In that respect, the program focuses intentionally on rural youth to ensure that they have equitable access to resources.

What

DSF is a 4 month residential skill-based training program that caters to the rural youth. The primary focus of the program is to provide fellows with employability, professional and leadership skills that will enable them to gain employment in fields such as marketing, sales and logistics management.

The program consists of 20 modules which include courses that range from effective communication, leadership, marketing, English, and technology to basic finance courses.  Along with learning hard skills, fellows are taught basic operations skills required to work at any organization. In addition to enhancing their employability levels, fellows are encouraged to open their own small-scale enterprises. Deshpande Foundation gives them a platform through which they can gain access resources required to run their own small-scale enterprises.

DSF Courses Modules:

-          Effective Communication -          Leadership Skills -          Basic English -          Information Technology -          Logistic Management -          Marketing Management -          EMT Module -          Event Management -          Life Skills -          Resume Writing -          RTI Module -          Gender -          Basic Accounting -          Banking

Target Audience

The main audience of DSF is rural youth who want to advance their careers, are either already engaged in small-scale enterprises or have aspirations to join or create one.  Individuals from a range of different educational backgrounds enroll in the program: PUC, ITI, JOC, D.Ed and B.Ed candidates.

What makes it unique

DSF is a program that is meant exclusively for the rural youth. It opens more avenues for rural youth by making them employable in different fields and enabling them to break out of their moulds. In that respect, the entire program is tailored to its target. Classes take place at night with early morning presentations and personal grooming courses to prepare fellows for a demanding workplace environment. While fellows take basic English courses, the modules are taught in Kannada by top professionals.

Staff members have worked hard to ensure that the program is effective. Since the program first started, different aspects of it have been fine-tuned and changed around based on employer expectations and alumni comments in order to ensure maximum impact. Thus, the program is unique in terms of its design based on employer expectations, its focus on a key target and its dynamic ability to serve its target while considering the opinions of all its stakeholders.

Stakeholders

-          Instructors: Scholars and professionals who are from the top of their fields teach the fellows.

-          Employers: After their fellowships, many have gone on to work at various non-profit and for-profit organizations successfully managing various roles in front line operations.

-          Alumni: The reach and impact of the program is evident through the alumni.

-          Ecosystem?

Impact

-          89 fellows/3 batches graduated

o   Fourth batch is in progress

-          98% employment placement after graduation of all DSF fellows                

-          Many fellows now work at various organizations within the Sandbox area, some working at partner organizations such as SafeHands Multipurpose Cooperative Society, NanoPix, Sikshana, POWER, SKDRDP and others in the marketing sector. Thus, many go on to work with partners creating a multiplier effect within the ecosystem and amplifying the impact.

A Closer Look: Laxmi, Secretary, Safe Hands Multipurpose Cooperative Services

Initially a security guard at the Deshpande Foundation, Laxmi heard of DSF and decided to join the program hoping that she would be able to improve her communication and English skills. The program offered her much more than that. Laxmi improved her presentation skills, something she claims she “was scared of the most.” While she overcame her fear of going on stage through regular presentations, she also improved her communication skills. When asked what she enjoyed the most, she mentions learning English and IT, quickly adding the value of all the skills she learned through DSF, “in school we can’t get skills this, school is very different.” After Laxmi finished her fellowship, she was hired as a secretary at Safe Hands Multipurpose Cooperative Services; she expresses how “proud” she is of herself, “I jumped from security to secretary,” she says happily.