REACHA  HQ team visited Smartpur centers in Bhagwan Chariali, Borpothar, Betonipam and Arne Centers in Dhemaji, Assam.  The team also met with officials -  Government Officials Met: Rahul Suresh Javir (District Collector), Dr. Binita Kunwar (Officiating Head, KVK), Dr. Girin Saikia (District Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Officer), Sh. Ghanakanta Basumatary (Director of RSETI), and CSC District Manager. The discussions were to see how how more government programs can be taken to the local community members through the Smartpurs in Assam. Case story -  Visited the farm of one of the beneficiaries of horticulture training provided as part of the livelihood courses. Thanks to training received by the farmer, he has been able to introduce new varieties of fruits and vegetables to the area. He was a flood victim but now has a stable farming income. Conducted an orientation meeting with the whole REACHA Assam team !

REACHA  team will be conducting  IBM  SkillsBuild Orientation Sessions for  Sagar Group (SIRT Bhopal) | Sagar Group of Institutions  - Computer Applications (MCA) students on 13th Nov 2024.

13 students have joined Amar Udyog (snapshots below). These students have completed market upskilling training at  Imperial Auto Industries  (CSR) supported training program with support and guidance of ITI Faridabad.  These joining have come as an outcome of the Placement Drive 1 that was held a few days back, and these youth are now starting their career!

REACHA team took the students for an exposure visit to Gulmarg. The trainees had the opportunity to gain practical experience by interacting with tourists who come from various regions of India. They were able to apply the knowledge they had learned in the classroom and experience real-world situations in the tourism industry.  The region has an increasing demand of tourist guides, as people from all over the world visit Kashmir and wants to get to know the region.  The program hence is setting these youth up to tap livelihood opportunities in tourism sector.

Monitoring and Evaluation Field Visit (Dungarpur, Rajasthan) Key takeaways:  Smartpurs are located at Panchayat Ghars in remote areas of Dungarpur, Rajasthan.  Through Nokia's support the team is giving services under - governance, livelihood, financial and education pillar to the local community members through these centers.  The team met with local government departments - Animal Husbandry, Social Protection Schemes, Agriculture etc. The officials see this as a very good way to promote and take the government schemes to the last mile.  Education classes running at the centers is helping to give exposure to basic computer skills to children and youth of the village. (These community members before this intervention had not seen or used computers) The travelling time for villagers to obtain services like making Aadhar Card, Pan Card, Opening a Bank Account etc. has gone down significantly due to these Smartpur Centers.  The centers are developing local entrepreneurs with eventual goal - that they can self-sustain giving services with time The team inaugurated its project office location at Rajasthan with the larger team  The project strongly aligns with the mission and vision of  REACHA  created in 1992 - to become a bridge to take the government schemes/programs to the very last person in the community so that they can benefit from same.

One of our SkillsBuild's learner -  ABHINAV PATEL ,  B.Tech  (CSE) from  Gurukula Kangri Vishwavidyalaya , Haridwar, Uttarakhand has been developing an AI-based autonomous drone system that can monitor and survey regions affected by deforestation or natural disasters, particularly in challenging terrains such as mountains of Uttarakhand.  The project aims to actively contribute to reforestation by identifying suitable areas and dispersing special hybrid seeds to restore vegetation and prevent future environmental degradation.  He got an opportunity to showcase the project at IBM CSR Event, and is continuing on his journey to build upon what he has made and his learning journey at SkillsBuild .

Tarang Festival 2024 held at Gurgaon and Noida in October.  Genpact  supported SHGs from Chinar Yuva Baramulla, Kashmir presented the following items at the exhibition - Bags, Laptop Sleeves, Bottle Covers, pouches, handbags created by recycling polythene.  Fauzia and Sharik from Baramulla presented these items.  These SHGs have been receiving support from Genpact's Cell for Livelihood Initiative under guidance of  Indian Army , which has made all this possible.  The journey for these two have been immense from training as a beginner at the Chinar Club to setting up SHGs, generating sales, and to showcasing the same at a big level.

Outcome of  Imperial Auto Industries  supported Placement Drive 1 on 28/9/2024. We are happy to share - 23 students have been given offer by  AMAR UDYOG , 5 are selected by Imperial Autos, and 3 by  SPAC PRECISION PRIVATE LIMITED  Pvt Ltd. Imperial Auto Industries  supported intervention is helping the youth to get ready in alignment with the market requirements and is contributing towards enhancing their livelihood. These students now are getting ready to start their jobs post Diwali, and are motivated and excited to learn.  The social return on investment is emerging, as the students from ITI Faridabad who got training at the center in FY 2023-24 are now placed and are going to start earning income which will not only support them but also their families.

IBM 's Annual CSR Event - SkillsBuild Initiative (16/10/2024) held in Delhi - The event gave an opportunity to all stakeholders to get together who have been playing an important role for on ground delivery of IBM SkillsBuild Pan India - Students/youth, Corporate, Government, and Local Community.  Our Partners from Governments of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand participated in the program. Students and faculty from  ORIENTAL COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY BHOPAL ,  Gurukula Kangri Vishwavidyalaya , and  Allenhouse Group of Colleges  showcased their projects - Drone technology and how the same can help with reforestation in mountains of Uttarakhand (Sustainability theme), and another was Alumni Connect for college. ITI Betul Girls who come from a tribal background showcased their project in Women in Tech. Through SkillsBuild they have learnt how to make websites and portal. They showcased their work to the  IBM  team and the guests.  Samiksha Srivastav  also got an opportunity to share her story with all during the impact talk. These students have also been lucky enough to get one on one mentoring sessions from  IBM  Volunteers during their learning journeys. REACHA  team remains committed and looks forward to continue to take the program to far flung and remote areas in India to underserved communities, so the same can help in enhancing their livelihood.

REACHA  with support of  Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC)  CSR, and with guidance of  UCOST Dehradun  and  Government of Uttarakhand  conducted an event themed "Promoting Healthcare through Technology among students as part of Furtherance of their Education" at RSC, UCOST Dehradun on 18/10/2024.  Major takeaways from the event were  Students from Participating Government Schools, Lakhibagh, Ajabpur, Harawalla, Patel Nagar and Him Jyoti showcased projects on Health.  Key Topics included  Sugar Free Diwali  Swach Bharat  Importance of sleep, meditation and mindfulness  Health Modules developed by the team were also given to the students.  The effort aims to inculcate core values of mindfulness, self awareness, knowledge about nutrition, importance of sleep among students so as they grow they make good choices that can delay/avoid the onset of diseases and health problems.  The students then themselves become the role models, and changemakers and take the message to their families and friends. Students were also taken for a tour at RSC and got to know the rich history of Uttarakhand and Himalayas.  We thank Professor Durgesh Sir - Director General, UCOST who also came and motivated the students. Session on making health projects through tech (Kojo) was also taken up by REACHA team.

REACHA  will be implementing Nokia's Flagship Program - Smartpur Project. The project is committed towards sustainable development of rural areas. It supports digital inclusion by facilitating access to government services across the pillars of Education, Health, Livelihood, Governance and Financial Inclusion through Smartpur Centers.  REACHA with Nokia's support would set up project offices across 5 states - Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir to take up 105 centers. The team looks forward to getting different stakeholders to come together for the project to give the benefit to the remotest of the areas in the above mentioned geographies. Snapshots from team's visit at Vodhpora Village, Kupwara, Kashmir Smartpur Center - 18/10/2024.