Hyundai Motor India Foundation, the CSR arm of Hyundai Motor India, has announced its skill development initiative christened ‘Saksham’, which it says will boost employment opportunities in diverse sectors.

The foundation says the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has increased the job losses adding to the stress of certain sectors especially healthcare. Apart from shortage of doctors and nurses, there is a huge requirement of support staff like attendants, medical assistants and skilled janitors. To cater to the shortage of skilled manpower, the initiative will be first carried out in healthcare sector creating more livelihood opportunities for the unemployed youth.

Commenting on commencement of the program, S S Kim, MD and CEO, Hyundai Motor India said, “Under the aegis of our global vision of ‘Progress for Humanity’, Hyundai aims to alleviate the challenges faced by youth during these trying times. Our initiative ‘Saksham’ is aimed at empowering the vulnerable sections of society to become self-reliant. Saksham initiative is a step towards a sustainable economic development much needed to bridge the widening employment gap created by the Covid-19 pandemic. The courses are certified by National Skill development Corporation, which will help them in their future endeavours.”

The program will offer several employment-oriented courses across sectors. The first project in healthcare domain will run in 2 phases covering states of Maharashtra, Delhi and Haryana in first and state of Bihar in second phase along with few more states in the future.

The project will provide both theoretical and on-job training modules to the individuals followed by placements. After the training, students will be absorbed as patient attendants, janitors and general duty attendants among others. The project is expected to place about 580 trainees till December 2020.