Anudip is a pioneer of creating livelihood opportunities through training in ICT skills to impoverished rural youth of India, most of whom have not seen a computer before. The project we would like to present is Anudip’s Mass Employment Through Rural IT (MERIT) program, which offers ICT outsourcing services of highest quality through our trained graduates and follows fair-trade employment practices.
Anudip follows a market-aligned skills training program that involves employers in creating course curricula based upon their ICT skill needs, thus preparing students who they ultimately employ. In addition to technical ICT and business education, Anudip offers vital job preparedness and English communication skills. This has resulted in over 70% of 4000+ graduates gaining employment in mainstream IT jobs and 65+ graduates achieving self-employment through business ownership in their communities. These micro-entrepreneurs have started a range of technology-enabled businesses bringing new computer-related services to their communities.
Finally, Anudip believes that the field of IT outsourcing, that has brought urban India much wealth, should demand “fair-trade” principles similar to apparel and consumer products. Anudip serves as a leader in the “fair trade outsourcing” movement by establishing rural BPO (business process outsourcing) centers with fair wages, benefits and working conditions, simultaneously demonstrating that trained rural youth are capable of best-in-industry ICT work.
Anudip’s vision is to enable rural youth to comprehensively participate in the economic engine of India. India’s global leadership in the ICT industry is shaping the country’s wealth and prosperity. This new well-being, however, has not spread to rural India. By developing a large pool of trained ICT professionals employable in a range of formal sectors, Anudip dreams of igniting a revolution where rural people become a vital and growing component of India’s ICT-services based economy. To achieve this dream, Anudip is creating livelihood opportunities for marginalized people by offering computer and entrepreneurship skills training and placement services. Anudip’s target is to train 100,000 people, create employment opportunities, and make economic empowerment a reality.
In order to build skilled capacity and reduce unemployment in urban areas, Anudip uses a three-pronged model to implement its programs. After students complete the market-aligned skills training program they gain livelihood through one of three paths: (1) ICT-enabled jobs, (2) ICT-based entrepreneurship, (3) Anudip’s own ICT outsourcing centers.
Anudip provides comprehensive ICT, entrepreneurship, English communication and soft skills training in addition to hands-on practice and mentoring. Anudip’s courses are designed to provide students classroom and practical knowledge of basic and advanced computer and Internet skills that are intimately aligned to the needs of employers in back-office, customer service, retail, security, construction, telecom, government, BPO and other sectors. Our graduates are connected to employers in their localities through Anudip’s placement services.
The project we would like to present is Anudip’s Mass Employment Through Rural IT (MERIT) program, which offers ICT outsourcing services of highest quality through our trained graduates and follows fair-trade employment practices. Anudip’s encourages its graduates to join is its own MERIT centers and thus hires Anudip graduates who pass a written, oral and computing ability test and can read and write English. Upon selection, graduates are tasked with data entry, digitization and web-based projects as well as other revenue-producing projects. For example, MERIT Center employees are capable of completing a diverse range of digital ICT projects, including transcribing medical documents, digitizing newspapers, scraping data for online companies and creating databases.
Anudip's first MERIT Center has been operational in its headquarters for over a year and employs 25 rural villagers, each working on a variety of IT projects and making an average income of $5 per day. Based on learnings, the MERIT Center will be distributed and replicated in second and third tier towns in India.
Anudip currently works in West Bengal state in eastern India. Its India office is in Kolkata. Anudip delivers its training program through 20 partner NGOs spread over 90,000 sq km serving 80 million people or 8% of India’s population. It our intent in the next five years to spread our work to most of India’s under-served eastern region, and tripling our target beneficiary base.
Anudip target group includes men and women of poor rural communities in the 16 to 30 age group, who have at least a secondary (grade ten) school education and who are motivated to improving their own livelihoods through ICT skills. While not limited to them, Anudip makes special effort to bring in women, Muslim and other minority and often oppressed communities into its training gambit. Anudip often works in politically volatile regions offering alternative livelihood opportunities. The indirect beneficiaries of Anudip’s work are the families of primary beneficiaries and their communities.
Anudip operates in West Bengal state in eastern India. Its India office is in Kolkata. Anudip delivers its training program through 20 partner NGOs spread over 90,000 sq km serving 80 million people or 8% of India’s population. It our intent in the next five years to spread our work to most of India’s under-served eastern region, and tripling our target beneficiary base.
Anudip target group includes men and women of poor rural communities in the 16 to 30 age group, who have at least a secondary (grade ten) school education and who are motivated to improving their own livelihoods through ICT skills. While not limited to them, Anudip makes special effort to bring in women, Muslim and other minority and often oppressed communities into its training gambit. Anudip often works in politically volatile regions offering alternative livelihood opportunities. The indirect beneficiaries of Anudip’s work are the families of primary beneficiaries and their communities.
In four years, Anudip has set up 20 training centers and one MERIT Center in South Bengal and replicated the model in North Bengal demonstrating the project's transferability and scalability.
Anudip has trained over 4000 literate but unemployed or underemployed youth who previously have had little or no exposure to computers in ICT and business skills.
2004/05: Fellowship to attend Reuters Digital Vision program at Stanford Univeristy. Ethnograpahic study that leads to Anudip vision.
2005: Fellowship to attend Global Social Benefits Incubator at Santa Clara University.
2006: First training center operational
2007: First entrepreneur group
2008: First 1000 graduates
2009: 2000 graduates, prototype MERIT center
2010: 4000 graduates, 20 entrepreneur groups, first operational MERIT center, invitation to attend Skoll Forum.
Funding raised: Grants totaling Euro 1.0 million from American India Foundation, Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and individual donations. America India Foundation grant to fund market-aligned skills training and job placement programs. Sir Dorabji Tata Trust to fund replication of training, job placement and MERIT Center programs in North Bengal.
Over 70% of graduates have gained employment in mainstream jobs, including, government, retail, telecom and other sectors. 65 graduates have achieved self-employment through group business ownership in their communities. Several new groups are in the formative stages.
In early 2010, Anudip hired 25 of its graduates to be employed in its first operational MERIT Center.
Operational MERIT Center has secured over 5 returning customers who are supplying IT projects to the MERIT Center.
In 2010, Anudip hired 25 of its graduates to serve as trainers in its rural training centers.
