Mumbai Central train station, 20th of March 2020: Thousands of migrant workers are queueing for a train ticket home. Hardly any of them are wearing face masks to contain the spread of the coronavirus. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of workers are returning on foot, walking for weeks along train tracks and highways.
Scenes like the one described above abounded in international media reports at the beginning of last year. Indian Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar later stated that 10 million migrant workers across India had tried to return to their native villages during the nation-wide lock-down.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the plight of unskilled migrant workers into the spotlight – but it is not at the root of the problem. Poverty and inequality have many causes. Rajiv Sharma has set out to combat one of the most prevalent among them: the lack of education.
He seems relaxed while he talks, telling a story of disruptions, bright ideas, and new beginnings. “The last ten years have been the toughest in my career,” he says.
Rajiv is not alone on the virtual call: His colleagues Pritha Dutt, Mohtashim Khan, and Mrinal Kant have joined him to tell the story of inclusive business Empower Pragati.
38% of Indian youths do not complete secondary school. The vocational training sector is only starting to develop. Without marketable skills, young people face the threat of getting stuck in the informal sector. Many travel to the big cities, where they labour in poorly paid jobs and are vulnerable to shocks.
This is the challenge Rajiv and his company Empower Pragati want to tackle. “We have trained 450 thousand youths so far,” Pritha says. “Over the next ten years, we will make it two million.” Training not only improves their chances for qualified employment, but also makes a change in their communities. Youths become more self-confident, with women in particular becoming aware of their rights.
In 2010, Rajiv quit his corporate job to found Empower Pragati, an inclusive business company based in New Delhi. The company offers skills training to disadvantaged youths and supports them with finding job placements after the training.
“Students are provided ongoing counselling, training, and, in several projects, hostel facilities during the training period – all free of cost,” Rajiv’s colleague Mohtashim explains. “In the end, they are certified by the relevant industry-led Sector Skills Council and offered options in entry-level jobs.”
Empower Pragati is a for-profit enterprise. Most of its revenue stems from the Indian government, which commissions the company to conduct courses under national schemes. Other companies finance classes via corporate social responsibility (CSR ) programmes or to train employees. In addition, a vertical offering fee-based courses to workers in the informal sector is currently being expanded. Roadside mechanics, for instance, can catch up with recent developments in engineering.
“Getting the students to stay on the job was an issue in the beginning,” Rajiv admits. By now, the company has mitigated the problem: An in-house call centre supports not only students, but even graduates on their first job. “We also had to redesign our courses and create a stronger connection with industry,” he recalls. The goal is for the students to stay on the job for at least half a year.
Keeping students on the job was not the only challenge Rajiv encountered. “When I started off, I believed that all poor people were unhappy and would queue up for the free training and employment opportunities I had to offer,” he says. “I had to move on from this misconception, learn about their needs, their aspirations, the expectations of companies, the way to mobilize and counsel youth and families, and hiring passionate team members – especially trainers. Alongside all this, I had to build a scalable, sustainable business.”
“I keep going on because I know that every day our trainings have transformed someone’s life," he says, “every challenge has made me and us stronger.”
Empower Pragati is the first company featured in the new Impact Stories series prepared by the Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN). “Rajiv and his team are truly inspiring,” says Susann Tischendorf, Director for Communications and Digital Innovation at iBAN. She is the mastermind behind the Stories: “I developed the format to support companies to enable them to communicate their impact and approach investors”, she says. “There are so many inspiring business models out there – I wanted to help make them seen.”
The multimedia format presents outstanding inclusive business companies from different sectors and countries. Editions featuring African companies in last-mile distribution and agriculture are online as well.
Watch an inspiring video and read more about Empower Pragati here.
Images: Christopher Malapitan (illustrations), Rajesh Balouria on Unsplash (migrant workers), Empower Pragati (remaining photos)
