GUNTUR: The Covid-19 pandemic has rendered many people jobless and pushed the poor into extreme poverty. Elisamma, 19, who belongs to a below poverty line family, has two younger siblings and her parents are daily wage workers. As they couldn’t afford education for all three girls, Elisamma was forced to stop her education after SSC and to make matters worse, the Covid-19 pandemic rendered her parents jobless.
“I didn’t want my sisters to face the same fate as mine, so I decided to do any job to meet their education expenses. But I couldn’t find a decent job due to lack of skills. At that time, I got to know about the Unnathi free training programme for unemployed youth and got selected. I received training in communication, computer operating and retail store operation. After the course, I secured a job at a local retail store. Now, I am earning Rs 11,000 a month,” she said. Elisamma is now supporting her parents financially as well as paying for the education of her younger siblings.
Koteswara Rao, another such youth, had to stop his education after Intermediate as his family couldn’t afford for his higher studies. He landed a job as a billing executive in a firm in Vijayawada after getting training under the Unnathi scheme. “After getting the job, I enrolled for BA in distance mode. I always wanted to complete MBA and now I can do it without burdening my family,” he added.
Many such youngsters, who had to stop their education due to financial issues, secured jobs thanks to the Unnathi scheme, a convergence project of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Scheme (MGNREGS).
Under DDU-GKY, District Water Management Agency (DWMA) in coordination with District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) and Society for Employment Generation and Enterprise Development in AP (SEEDAP) conducted a three-month training programme with a paid internship for 27 youngsters in Guntur district. Of the total, 22 landed various jobs. Speaking to TNIE, DWMA project director Yugandhar said 16 courses are offered under the scheme and the candidates can choose the course of their interest.
The beneficiaries then get jobs in selected firms and if they are interested to set up their own start-ups, bank loans are also provided to them. “The first phase of the scheme was a huge success. We are planning to start the second phase. A survey is being conducted to identify the eligible candidates and so far 116 candidates have been selected in the district. We are creating awareness among people so that the eligible youth can utilise it, which will help them improve their living standards,” he said.
What is the Unnathi scheme?
Unnathi is a centrally- sponsored scheme under which skill training is extended to eligible candidates from the family of MGNREGS beneficiaries. Eligible candidates in the 18-45 age group are trained. A person undergoing training is paid a stipend as per the prevailing rate for a max period of 100 days.