Do you know of a youth who has completed college but not found a job? Anudip Foundation for Social Welfare, a Sector V-based NGO has started a free course for needy youths that will not just teach them advanced AI but also help with placement.
Anudip was started in 2007 by US-based social entrepreneur, IIT Kharagpur alumnus Dipak Basu and wife Radha. Basu had found a huge disconnect between what the industry wanted and what youths were taught in our state.
They started with a single computer literacy class under a thatched roof in the Sundarbans. “Today the group has over 100 centres across 22 states and has helped over 7.5 lakh beneficiaries. In last year alone we skilled 2,39,000 beneficiaries, but in a country where 10 million graduates join the workforce every year, there
is still a long way to go,” said CEO Monisha Banerjee, who is based out of Bangalore but had come to the centre last week.
While the group has been conducting various kinds of courses over the years, it has recently launched two centres of excellence — one in Coimbatore and the other in Calcutta — at Salt Lake EE Block Natya Shodh Sansthan. Here they impart free courses in advance data analytics with Python and AI.
“Despite a degree, most graduates aren’t industry-ready,” said Banerjee. “Anudip has tie-ups with over 400 corporate houses and we tailor our syllabus as per their requirements.” The courses also focus on soft skills, something first-generation learners lack.
“Compared to our students in other metros, those in Calcutta often lack confidence,” Banerjee noted. “Ask them a question and they look away. Students in Karnataka may not be fluent in English either, but they can express themselves in broken English. In Bengal, over the last 30 years, students have come to believe passively listening in class is enough. They aren’t encouraged to be curious or ask questions, and exams focus largely on rote learning.”
As a result aspirations here are low. “Youths want no more than a government job for the security-and-siesta culture, but we want to show them that there’s a whole world beyond that. And now, with AI-induced job losses and increasing competition, the learning curve simply must be steeper.”
Science, arts & soft skills
The AI courses at Natyo Shodh Sansthan have capacity for four batches with about 20 students each. They are now running two batches and can start another as soon as enough students sign up.
“The course runs for three months, five days a week, for four to five hours a day. But the students enjoy it so much they linger, and we often have to ask them to leave so we can close up at 6pm,” smiles Arpita Gupta, head, Centre of Excellence.
While this is a demanding course and so is open only to those with a technical background, Anudip has courses for those from arts and commerce backgrounds too, in centres such as at Kankurgachi, Dunlop, Metiabruz and many more across the country. These digital literacy courses help them get entry-level front and back office jobs.
“We also have soft skill sessions daily,” said Deblina Sengupta, general manager- public relations, marketing and communications. “These youths could be the first generation in their families to be stepping into an office. They have to learn how to dress, use the lift and cafeteria, shake hands in an interview, make presentations, interact with clients... And we have industry honchos coming to guide them.”
Sengupta adds that they have a 70 per cent placement record but that even besides the job, the futuristic course and positive environment give students independence and agency.
Banerjee, the CEO, recalls how when they were trying to set up a centre at Metiabruz years ago, they were even pelted with stones for trying to bring girls out of homes. “But now 1,800 girls there have passed out from Anudip. Fathers bring their daughters to enrol; daughters ask if their mothers can enrol; women work after marriage…. By uplifting just one youth, you create a ripple effect and inspire neighbours, family and community,” she said.
The students at the EE Block centre are a bright bunch, making the most of the opportunity. Some have even come from different states of the east and northeast and are living as paying guests to pursue the course “that would have otherwise cost Rs 80,000 elsewhere,” says Gupta.
Rudrashis Chowdhury said he was taught softwares like Excel and Python during his MCA course, “but they were superficial. We are going in-depth only now,” said the Dum Dum student, who is usually the first to submit projects.
Abhirup Bhowmik said he made a single presentation in the entire duration of his B. Tech course in Agartala, “and here I delivered a presentation in the first 15 days itself,” he said, utterly relishing the course.
