I t was a special moment for Vijay Reddy, who has been working in the field of employable skill training. He recently won the REX Karmaveer Chakra and Vijay is elated with this recognition. Vijay’s journey began when as a programme director for a project he was doing for the Wipro in the US. “The work which was coming from Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai was not up to the mark. The manager complained that the quality is not standard from these cities. It was going on for weeks and I was in a dilemma whether to trust the manager or off shore team,” he recalls. Vijay then flew back to India and interacted with freshers. “The youngsters said they had no idea as to how to go about it. I wondered why the youngsters, who are coming from good colleges are average in their skills,” he states.
Thus started Vijay’s journey in the field of employable skills programme especially to youth hailing from financially underprivileged backgrounds. An IT professional, he observed the trend in colleges in Hyderabad. “I went to a couple of campus interviews and what shocked me was the way students were being selected. The employable skills were lacking and it was not just engineering students; the case was same with MBA and degree students.” he adds.
His Last Mile Solutions was a bridge for youngsters, who finished their courses and are not equipped with skills to join the industry. “I took sessions in colleges telling students about what they are supposed to learn and what they have been learning; Also sensitise and guide them,” he says. The cellar of his house became the training ground for young boys and girls. His another Facebook initiative called ‘Kaizen’ was also hugely popular among the students. “All the students and support staff manage this. It is a one-stop place for information about job openings and we also counsel rejected students not to feel depressed and give-up,” he says.
One of Kaizen members Anshul Sinha also made a movie Road of Spero ( Spero, Latin word means hope) which depicted the reality of state of affairs. “We reached out to one lakh people through the movie screenings in colleges. Even if one youngster backs out from taking his life, I feel I have achieved success.”
Vijay speaks about the initiative he created for the Telangana government. “When IT minister KT Rama Rao wondered why corporates are not coming forward to employ rural youth, it was suggested that it was because of communication problem. Their lack of English-speaking skill was not just the issue; there was fear, insecurity and low confidence,” he reminisces. As part of the Telangana government’s TASK programme (Telangana Academy of Skill and Knowledge), he has created a pilot project and training programme for the Warangal youth.
While he continues to work on building employable skills among youth, Vijay is currently working on launching an app for students, parents and colleges.
