BENGALURU, India  , May 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Art of Living Social Projects celebrated the birthday of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on 13 May 2023 by inaugurating three skill centres in The Art of Living Free Schools campus in Khunti District, Jharkhand. The event was inaugurated and graced in the presence of Shri Prasana Prabhu, Chairman of Vyakti Vikas Kendra, India (The Art of Living), along with the Chief Guests, Shri Koche Munda (MLA), and Shri Mahesh Poddar (Ex-MP Rajya Sabha).

The skill centres aim to provide learning opportunities and necessary skills to help rural youth in the country to generate a steady income to support their families. The newly inaugurated centres will offer training programs in various disciplines, such as tailoring and stitching, electrical, and computer operations. The first batch of 30 people have already been enrolled and the training has started.

Digging into depth to train and skill rural youth

There is a need to utilize the talent of rural India to its full potential. Under the Sri Sri Rural Development Program (SSRDP), The Art of Living is on a quest to tap the power and intelligence of rural and relatively disadvantaged youth, including men and women, through its skill development and entrepreneurship programs. The program aims to empower individuals toward sustainable livelihoods by imparting lessons on ethical leadership, life skills, and technical knowledge. When it unfolds entirely, the scheme of things is not only providing education to rural youth; but also creating and fulfilling numerous jobs. In Gurudev's words, "Youth are the backbone of our country, and they determine the country's development. Hence, they have to be competent enough to face the challenges in life."

Picking the workable areas and their methodical implementation

The four-fold strategy for implementation for skilling the nation includes:        

1. Training youth: it involves giving underprivileged youth employment opportunities through vocational training.
2. Empowering women: women from socially & economically backward sections to be provided meaningful skill training and market access for their goods and produce, increasing their family income.
3. Leadership training: these programs ensure ownership, project sustainability, and commitment, creating empowered leaders.
4. Creating rural enterprises: the enterprises create entrepreneurs with eco-friendly and sustainable technologies that provide clean drinking water, energy access, smokeless cook stoves, and agri-farm support, among other benefits.

The steady growth of the program has created an impact across India

The impact of the Sri Sri Rural Development Program has been substantial across India, giving to 95 skill development centres built in 23 states & union territories already, including the remote parts of North-east India and Jammu & Kashmir. Through the program, there are over 3,10,000 people trained in various skills, with more than 69,000 students taught in around 200 colleges under the Access to Employability program. Skill development programs are also running in 16 jails across India.

About The Art of Living - Social Projects

The Art of Living, a non-profit, educational, and humanitarian organization founded in 1981 by the world-renowned humanitarian and spiritual leader - Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, through its social projects like SSRDP, aims at reaching every part of rural India and skilling the youth enabling them to a sustainable livelihood.

For more updates:
Follow us at:  https://www.instagram.com/artofliving.sp/
Like us at:  https://www.facebook.com/artoflivingsocialprojects
Tweet us at:  https://twitter.com/artofliving_sp
Message us at:  https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/artofliving-sp

Media Contact:  
Shamika Gandhi
+91-9986557389
shamika.gandhi@projects.artofliving.org

Photo:  https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2080546/Inauguration_of_Skill_Development_Centre.jpg
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1979631/AOLSP_logo_Logo.jpg

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/skill-centres-inaugurated-tapping-into-the-potential-of-rural-india-301829333.html