Prakash Mistry has a lot of dreams for his future.  A job, a decent earning and a better and steady life. He is undergoing training in the course of Hospitality Assistance. He is learning the nuances of the hospitality industry along with several other young men and women.

“I am doing this course just because I want to get a job and can spend the rest of my life without hassles.” Says Prakash.

Prakash is a student of the Livelihood College Surajpur. This College was established in 2013-14 under the Chhattisgarh State Skill Development Act 2013.

“This is one of the ambitious projects of the state government. This college gives training to those young men and women who could not finish their regular education for some reason.They are trained in various trades so that they can become self-reliant.” Says Dinesh Kumar, Assistant Programme Officer.

The training programmes here are all short term courses of two to three months. The primary objective of these courses is to make these men and women able to get employment or to start their own enterprises.  The courses encompass various skills especially electrical work, automotive sector, constructions work, electronics, computer operator, etc.

The Livelihood College is a fully residential institution and the hostel facilities are completely free of cost.The educational materials like books and other accessories are also given free of cost to the students. At present the capacity of the hostel is 70 but they are planning to expand it further. Most of the courses are conducted or supported by companies from various fields. There are a four to five companies which are empanelled with the government and these companies support the courses. Interestingly, all the present employees except the teaching staff of the institution are alumni of the livelihood college. It is a policy of the institution to employ their own trainees whenever there is a vacancy. 

The Livelihood College is training these young men and women in the trades of their choice so as to make them independent. Several women who were widowed or were abandoned by their families are also undergoing training in some courses in order to start life anew. The Livelihood College also runs abus which functions as a mobile classroom for the farmers. This bus is equipped with an LED for audio visual training.

The Livelihood College has state of the art facilities including workshops and computer labs. The vision of the institution is to turn Surajpur and Chhattisgarh into a hub of skilled manpower. Skill development has been one of the thrust areas identified by the government of India and various schemes and initiatives have been taken in this regard. The Prime Minister of India, on various occasions, have spoken about a vision for India as a global supplier of skilled manpower. It has been a dream of new India. A day is not far when the Indian workers will be the number one demand in any workplace around the world. The initiatives like the Surajpur Livelihood College are important steps in this direction.