18 March 2025 – Uttarakhand Tech Summit 2025 (under IBM SkillsBuild)

18 March 2025 – REACHA organized Uttarakhand Tech Summit 2025 at Nodal ITI Niranjanpur, Dehradun. An initiative under IBM SkillsBuild in collaboration with UCOST Dehradun and Department of Skill Development and Employment Uttarakhand. 

Tech Summit under IBM Skillsbuild had representation from all the adult/youth skilling stakeholders from Uttarakhand - UCOST, DSDE, SETU Aayog, Principals, Faculties, Industry, youth. It highlighted CSR’s Role in Transforming Tech-enabled Skilling Landscape in Uttarakhand

- Context setting for Summit was done by – Mr. Nikhil Pant (Chairman and CEO, REACHA). He shared about work done under SkillsBuild in Uttarakhand, with support of UCOST & DSDE Partnerships.

- Special Guest Seema Joshi (Manger, SkillsBuild) shared about IBM SkillsBuild Initiative, and how it can strengthen youth of Uttarakhand. 

- Mr. Anil Tripathi (Additional Director, DSDE) was guest of honor. He shared that there are 100+ ITIs in state that can benefit and asked REACHA to make a road map for IBM SkillsBuild for coming years. 

- Professor Durgesh Pant – Director General, UCOST joined virtually, and reinforced that efforts by IBM and REACHA for SkillsBuild for youth of Uttarakhand are much appreciated & should extend to all districts of state.

- Dr DP Uniyal – Jt Director, UCOST said that their mandate is to promote science and technology in state, and IBM Skillsbuild aligns with same.

Under Voice of youth section, youth shared learnings from IBM SkillsBuild and projects to solve real world issues in Uttarakhand – 

- ABHINAV PATEL (Gurukula Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar) – How Drone tech can be used to solve problems of landslides in Uttarakhand 

- Abhishek Maurya, Abhinav Singhal, Smriti, Tanisha (Tula's Institute, Dehradun) shared project on – Women Safety. This can be invaluable to empower working women in Uttarakhand. 

- Ananya, Khushi from Women ITI, Dehradun are undergoing python classes under IBM SkillsBuild they made a Calculator and showcased the same. 

Panel Discussion was power-packed as we had senior most people from UK Govt who shared their views on skilling for the state and how SkillsBuild with REACHA as implementation partner can be beneficial for the youth of Uttarakhand. 

• Dr. Suyash Bhardwaj (Faculty - Computer Science, from Gurukula Kangari )

• Lav Bhardwaj (Domain Head, Economy and Employment, SETU Aayog)

• Asim Khan shared views from Employability standpoint 

• Mr. Dinkar Rautela (Principal, Mahila ITI, Dehradun)

• Mr. Manmohan Kuriyal (Principal, ITI Niranjanpur, Dehradun), Mr. Anil Tripathi, DP Uniyal – Joint Director, UCOST 

• Moderated by Mr. Nikhil Pant 

REACHA team is working on developing a road map for coming years for the state of Uttarakhand with key focus on employability and entrepreneurship.