Nagavali Institute of Rural Entrepreneurship Development (NIRED) at Rajam in Andhra Pradesh has been adjudged as one of the three best performing Rural Self-Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) in the country by the Ministry of Rural Development. It is jointly run by GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, CSR arm of GMR Group, and Andhra Bank, has become the only RSETI to win this recognition for the second year in a row.
NIRED identifies unemployed school or college dropouts from under-privileged families from Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts, to train them in vocational skills and also assist in taking up self-employment or jobs. Union Minister for Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Narendra Singh Thomar and Minister of State Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti gave away the awards at the National Awards Distribution ceremony in Delhi last month.
“We are overwhelmed to receive the award for the second year running. This puts greater responsibility on us, and we will strive to reach out to the youth in the most under-served areas, to put them on the first step on the ladder of a skilled vocation,” GMRVF executive director Meena Raghunathan.
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NIRED is a residential training facility with capacity to run six streams simultaneously. Candidates are provided in-house training in both technical and soft skills. Successful trainees are helped out with bank loans for starting their own enterprises, wherever required. Also, hand holding support is given for two years to the trainees, such as advice in setting up the enterprises, training in business development techniques, facilitating market linkages etc.
The Institute was established in January 2003 under joint sponsorship of GMR Varalakshmi Foundation and Andhra Bank Rural Development Trust (ABRDT). Since inception, free training has been provided to about 16,500 unemployed youths of which over 13,000 are self-employed or working in their chosen field. NIRED competed with 587 other RSETIs sponsored by various banks across the country.