NSDC Partners with deAsra Foundation for Building Capacity and Strengthening Entrepreneurship Support System

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Government of India, has collaborated with deAsra Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, for capacitating training providers with sustained entrepreneurship development of the trainees. The collaboration would support the establishment of ‘Entrepreneurship Support Program’, which is intended to equip placement cells of training providers with self-employment/ entrepreneurial assistance for the skilled candidates.

The association would facilitate training of counsellors/ trainers (termed as ‘Udyog Mitras’) of the envisioned Entrepreneurial Cell, who will handhold skill trainees to nurture their entrepreneurial action plan.  This would include various aspects of developing a business model, seeking financial guidance, availing services of banks/ agencies for loans and other statutory requirements.  The counselling provided by these Udyog Mitras is proposed to help aspirants in exploring new avenues and facilitating financial support for enhancing employability.

NSDC’s affiliated training centres would also get access to the deAsra platforms, tools and knowledge resources such as the deAzzle mobile app, business guides across industries, trackers, templates, checklists and proposed Interactive Kiosks.

Commenting on the partnership, Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, NSDC said, “NSDC’s collaboration with deAsra will help in building capacity of our affiliated training partners to provide entrepreneurial support to their trainees.  Business mentoring from experienced counsellors will enable aspiring youth to start their own businesses.  The initiative will not only support small and micro entrepreneurship that can generate large scale employment opportunities, it will also help drive sustainable growth in employment.”

Dr. Anand Deshpande, Founder, Chairman and MD, deAsra Foundation said, “Every year, more than 12 million youth enter working age group, but the challenge remains to generate enough employment opportunities for this growing talent. deAsra endeavors to transform job seekers into job creators through its entrepreneurial support system and other array of services.  We believe our collaboration with NSDC would contribute significantly to the Skill India Mission by creating successful entrepreneurs.”

deAsra’s Entrepreneurship Support Program is emerging as one of the key support modules which focuses on identifying the budding entrepreneurs across sectors. It will help Skill India trained candidates to acquire right guidance, facilitate business plans and provide allied services for establishing a new business. deAsra’s alliance with banks will enable mediation with financial institutions for facilitation of funds successfully.  The trainees will also be mentored by Udyog Mitras, who will guide the entrepreneur through every stage of his/her business lifecycle, right from set-up to growth.  Its network of professional service partners would also support entrepreneurs to connect with Chartered Accountants, Legal Advisors among others.

Skill India’s current training programs comprise a 40-hours module on Employability & Entrepreneurship Skills focusing on Life Skills, Digital Literacy and Financial Literacy. It’s a research-based guidance to establish, manage and grow a business through all the stages; de-risking entrepreneurship to a large extent. deAsra’s Entrepreneurship Support Program will further connect the trainees to Udyog Mitras to transform their dreams into reality.