ASSOCHAM’s Skilling India Awards 2019, held at Ranchi, recognises AROH Foundation as the Best NGO – Skill Development

ASSOCHAM’s National Summit cum Awards on Skilling India was held in the city. The Best NGO Award was conferred on AROH Foundation under the category of skill development. The Award was received by Dr Neelam Gupta, Founder President & CEO, AROH Foundation at the National Summit held on 7th June, 2019 in Ranchi. Shri CP Singh, Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Transport, Government of Jharkhand and Shri Saryu Rai, Minister for Food and Civil Supply, Government of Jharkhand along with other eminent jury members gave away the Award to Dr Gupta. The Foundation was recognized for its distinguished services in the developmental sector, through its multi-sectoral programmes, has skilled and empowered more than 25,000 women and trained 50,000 farmers to earn a better living. Overall, the Foundation has trained and placed more than 50,000 rural youth in gainful employment in various domains. Nearly 1500 SHGs and 520 rural enterprises have been setup by the Foundation. Women-centric programmes such as GARIMA, UDAAN have created a positive impact in the lives of women and their families. It has successfully applied flagship programs of the government like Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) since 2009 and has been implementing Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojna (DDU–GKY) since 2014. Under this Scheme, more than 20,000 youth have been trained and placed into jobs. On receiving the award, Dr Gupta said, “We are quite gung-ho about our demographic dividend; there is agreement that without having gender equality in skilling and workforce, this dividend is going to remain a distant dream. Currently, there are only 27 percent women in workforce as compared to nearly 80 per cent men. Without wasting any time, we must design policies and find solutions to overcome the challenges and vulnerabilities faced by young girls, especially in rural sector. It is imperative for reaping the true potential of our demographic dividend.” Apart from the award, Dr Neelam Gupta also addressed the distinguished guests wherein she spoke on the Agenda of Skill Development in India, from an NGO’s perspective. During the day-long event, the delegations discussed about the current scenario of skill development and opportunities for job creation. They stressed on the need of skill training that is pertinent to meet the growing demand. The Skill Achiever Awards by ASSOCHAM is to attract various organizations across India including Public and Private Sector Enterprises, Schools, Colleges, Universities and other Vocational Training Educational institutions, NGOs, Government departments etc. These awards honor and recognize the conscientious efforts of the developmental sector. Skill development and training programs that are relevant and result oriented must be appreciated. AROH Foundation is one such NGO well recognized for its pioneering programmes in sectors of Education, Livelihoods, Health and Sanitation and Renewable Energy. The Foundation has earlier bagged United Nations Global Compact Award, 2019 for its extraordinary contribution towards social cause under its Holistic Rural Development programme in the recent days. AROH has directly benefitted more than two lakh needy persons through its various programmes in the past decade. It has been constantly improving agricultural and infrastructural facilities, raising the living standards of rural hinterland through skill and human development & boosting local enterprise.