Rama Krishna Sangem
The Rural Development Centre (RDC) at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) inaugurated the ‘Skill Development Centre’ aimed at equipping rural and semi-urban youth with employable technical skills and entrepreneurial abilities, while also enhancing educational opportunities for children and degree students in these areas.
The new skilling centre has been named the NBV Skilling Centre. The Centre will serve as a hub for holistic skill development, encompassing both soft and technical skills. It plans to offer programs that instill confidence and improve communication abilities, while also focusing on innovation-driven skilling, providing hands-on learning opportunities and exposure to industry-relevant technologies, thereby enabling inclusive growth in rural and semi-urban India, said a press release.
This initiative is established under the Next Bharat Skilling Foundation (NBSF) — a joint collaboration between IIT Hyderabad’s Rural Development Centre (RDC), Next Bharat Ventures (an initiative of Suzuki Motor Corporation), and the Deshpande Foundation.
Innovation & real world skill building
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. B. S. Murty, Director, IIT Hyderabad, said: “IITH started the Rural Development Centre in 2020 with the vision to support rural development through innovative technologies. The new Skill Development Centre takes this vision forward — empowering India’s youth through education, innovation, and real-world skill building.”
Adding to this, Dr. Satish Regonda, Chairperson of the RDC, mentioned that the new centre greatly strengthens RDC’s ongoing efforts across its three core themes, Education, Environment, and Entrepreneurship, making rural regions an opportunity for innovation, empowerment, and transformation.
Building a nation of skilled innovators
The Next Bharat Skilling Foundation, incorporated as a Section 8 not-for-profit entity, seeks to create a national model for skilling that integrates education, employability, and entrepreneurship. The Foundation’s flagship programs — SkillPlus (for rural graduates), Skill in Village (SiV) (for school students), and Technical Skilling for MSMEs — aim to train over 50,000 youth and impact more than 50,000 school students by 2035.
The initiative is supported by Next Bharat Ventures, a Suzuki-backed platform that nurtures early-stage entrepreneurs working on solutions for “Next Bharat,” and implemented by the Deshpande Foundation, a leading social innovation organization known for its large-scale livelihood and skilling programs across India, said the release.
