Sona Yukti gets global award for equipping youth with skills

City-based skill development and training institute Sona Yukti has been given the social enterprise network (SEN) sustainability award for education. The award was presented by Young Presidents Organisation to CEO of Sona Yukti Chockalingam Valliappa at its annual event held in Cape Town, South Africa, last week, a press release from the institute here said.

The award is given in recognition of helping over 55,000 economically disadvantaged individuals, the majority of them women, by training them to land highly skilled jobs in marginalised communities, the release said. Sona Yukti is the only Indian organisation to be selected as part of the SEN awards for 2018, it said.

The organisation focuses on providing the opportunity for the disadvantaged, in partnership with the government of India, and follows standards set up by the National Skills Development Corporation. Till date, Sona Yukti runs 50 vocational schools in rural India providing a skilled workforce for companies and opportunities for those workers to lift themselves from poverty.

The organisation has a presence in rural areas of Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. It provides training in skills to over 25,000 young men and women annually to gain employment in business process outsourcing (non-voice), retailing, hospitality, healthcare and solar energy sector.

Young President's Organisation is a global leadership organisation for more than 27,000 chief executives in over 130 countries, the release said. Created 11 years ago, the SEN awards single out members of Young President's Organisation, who make a positive impact on their communities and companies. "Sona Yukti aspires to help train a million people, both men and women, and put them on a path to economic independence," the release quoted Valliappa as saying.

(With inputs from agencies.)