Project

Under Amrita’s Sankalp program, most participants started their journey by attending a pre-training workshop to assist them in selecting the job roles that would best support their business ventures within their respective communities. Overall, Amrita offered an array of over 40 courses, all officially approved by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and aligned with the National Skill Qualification Framework. Each of the diverse courses offered unique growth opportunities for women and transgender individuals participating in the training. The participants in the Amrita SANKALP project enthusiastically embarked on the courses they selected, which included: organic farming, mushroom cultivation, seaweed cultivation, tailoring, hand embroidery, beauty therapy, general duty assistance, and beekeeping among many others.

Pedagogy: The aim and objective of any truly comprehensive and sustainable project should not only beknowledge and skill acquisition, but also the betterment of society and human flourishing. To achieve this, we turn to the timeless principles of Sanatana Dharma:

Satyam: To train in knowledge that is scientific and skills that are technical for livelihoods and gainful employment including vocational skills, digital literacy and finance, e-markets and communication, entrepreneurship and business skills.

Shivam: To build back a better life not just for oneself, but for all. Taking ownership and leadership for positive change–to give back to society and bring auspiciousness everywhere.

Sundaram: To cultivate beauty in all that we do, focusing on quality and aesthetics. The beneficiaries learned to unleash their creativity and bring joy to themselves and those around them.

This initiative has been more than just a training program; it created a transformative journey towards empowerment and economic growth, enabling women and transgender individuals to carve out their destinies, contribute to their communities, and be the change-makers of tomorrow. Amrita is philosophy, which underlies both its pedagogy and training methodology, is unique. This philosophy is outlined below.

Amrita’s training methodology went beyond just delivery of the theory and practice of vocational skills. Courses were delivered through an integrated and blended learning format bringing together classroom learning, practical application, and digital literacy.The curriculum, designed for empowerment, included vocational and business skills for knowledge acquisition towards gainful employment as well as life skills (also called L.E.E. & SMART SHG) for the individual, and collective skills to build community cohesion, functioning, and overall well being. Training was delivered through a digital platform, tailored for learners with low literacy and digital skills. This platform offered interactive, user-friendly content. Alongside these lessons, it built digital literacy by incorporating the latest technologies and e-content in an easily usable format. In the LEE sessions, students developed their interpersonal skills. They engaged in activities or watched short films on pressing social issues and then discussed their thoughts and observations in small groups before sharing them with the larger class. These discussions provided a safe space for students to express themselves, learn from one another, and gain confidence in discussing sensitive issues. These sessions covered a wide range of important topics, including time-management, sanitation, health, substance abuse, nutrition, women’s health, child abuse, human trafficking, and more. We also conducted activities called “Ideal Village” and “LEE in the Community,” during which students were given a chance to address real issues in their communities. In the “Ideal Village,” students worked in groups to envision what their perfect village might look like, highlighting the differences between them and their current surroundings. This reflection helped them identify problem areas that can be addressed with group support. In the “LEE in the Community,” students collaborated to take action on community issues they are passionate about. This demonstrated both their increased awareness and capacity to address personal and social concerns.

1. One notable example of the LEE in Community came from a group of 43 women from one of the Amrita Sankalp Training Centers in Kanhangad, Kerala. These women, along with their dedicated trainer, successfully organised a powerful rally, inspired by their prior involvement in the "ideal village" project, where they recognized the pressing need for water conservation and safe drinking water awareness. As part of their "LEE in the Community" initiative, they joined forces with a local school where they assisted students to conduct a two-and-a-half-hour rally and awareness campaign. They successfully raised awareness among local drivers, pedestrians, and shopkeepers about the vital importance of conserving water, especially rainwater, as the summer season approached. Their collective efforts made them influential advocates for change.
2. Another example came from Kasaragod, Kerala. After their Ideal Village& project, the women in this SHG recognized the community’s issues of pollution resulting from plastic burning and construction that has led to wide-spread deforestation and loss of local ecosystems. To address these issues, they united for their &LEE in the Community&activity, choosing the eco-conscious approach of tree planting. Using the now famous Seedball Activity, they created 3,000 seedballs with a mixture of local seeds, soil, and clay, aimed at reforestation and biodiversity conservation. They dispersed these seeds in nearby fields and barren lands. This remarkable effort involved 47 women and their children, showcasing their commitment to a greener, more sustainable environment.

An additional, remarkable aspect of this initiative is the “SMART SHG” intervention. SMARTSHG is all about fortifying the financial health and collective strength of SHGs. It achieves this through a holistic, three-pronged approach aimed at:

1. Strengthening financial and accounting management within SHGs, cultivating skills in digital finance and innovative bookkeeping;
2. Strengthening SHG Governance and functioning through training on curriculum based on Noble Laureate Elanor Ostrom's principles;
3. Increasing knowledge and capacity among the beneficiaries in group business development and entrepreneurship.

All graduates who successfully completed the SMART SHG course received MSDE certification and received guidance by Amrita University to form collective enterprises.

To track the progress of the Amrita SANKALP project, the Amrita Sankalp App, a customised, daily-reporting and monitoring tool, was developed. Through this mobile application, training centre staff and students reported on the progress and quality of the classroom sessions, and reported general observations from the day’s events, self-perceived challenges, and successes. This App enabled remote monitoring of the Amrita-Sankalp project, and ultimately helped to evaluate the extent that the prescribed training methodology was implemented in practice.

The last mile, or capstone of the program, includes mentorship, access to resources, networking opportunities, and guidance on business development. 150 businesses have been registered so far as enterprises under the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, which offers them both formal recognition as well as access to various benefits and incentives available to MSMEs by the government.

• Vocational skills for rural women & transgender people
• Skills training centres in 6 states
• Eligible for MSDE certification
• 2,000+ students enrolled
• 4,500+ projected reach

• Organic farming
• Mushroom cultivation
• Seaweed cultivation
• Tailoring
• Hand embroidery
• Beauty therapy
• General duty assistance
• Beekeeping