New Delhi: Women account for 49 per cent of India’s population, according to the World Bank report. If we look at the Global Gender Gap Report 2023, released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), India has been ranked 127 out of 146 countries. Although the overall score did improve in 2023 by 1.4 per cent and eight positions compared to the 2022 report, gender inequality remains pervasive in the country. Imagine the compounded economic growth, if women are enabled to be active growth drivers and contributors. With this thought, Nimaya, a 21st century career accelerator for girls with big dreams, who don’t have the means to make them come true.
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On National Youth Day, team Banega Swasth India speaks to Nimaya Co-Founders, Founder, Navya Naveli Nanda and Samyak Chakrabarty, about the programme that the girls undergo through Nimaya.
Nimaya aims to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and practical workplace requirements, enhancing the employability prospects for the participants. For the same, the programme provides immersive training on critical skills to the girls.
The key focus is to bridge the skill and exposure gap between the education they may have received and what the industry today demands.
Speaking about the establishment of Nimaya, Navya Naveli Nanda, Founder, Project Naveli and Co-Founder Nimaya, said,
Nimaya was founded by Samayak and I about two and half years ago. Nimaya, in sanskrit means, opportunity, is really the motivation behind this project. I think women are entrepreneurs, they have a lot of leadership qualities that make them the best candidate for the job.
Talking about bringing the project to Faridabad, Ms Navya said,
Faridabad is a place that has been very close to my heart, specially this particular project, is in collaboration with Escorts Kubota, which is my family business and we have been working in the area for over 18 years. We felt it was our responsibility to give back to the people here. That is why it was significant to bring this programme here, especially in the school and colleges, where it will benefit the students the most.
While gender equity at the workspace is a pressing issue in itself, the entry barrier is even higher for girls from difficult socio-economic backgrounds. Zeenata, one of the students, said,
I want to become a teacher and I am sure Nimaya will help me improve my skills to achieve my dream.
Sonam, another beneficiary of the programme, said that her skills have been honed by Nimaya’s training. She further said,
When we engage in conversations with someone outside, the acquired training becomes beneficial. Regardless of our thoughts and points, or problems, we can articulate them to people. It is essential that others comprehend our perspectives and grasp our situations.
Sonam dreams of opening a petrol pump in future.
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Samyak Chakrabarty, Founder, Workverse and Co- Founder, Nimaya, said,
The core essence of the smart fellowship is to train graduates to do robot scheno tribes. Robots cannot apply emotional intelligence to get their way around. Robots cannot think outside the available data set. And that is what we are trying to teach through our programme. Students who have learnt through our smart fellowship, never get frazzled when put in a scenario. They know how to think and which mental model to apply, and that is the biggest achievement for us, as founders.
Since its inception in 2021, Nimaya has upskilled more than 1,000 girls in Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The non-for-profit has 85 per cent placement success till date. These two young entrepreneurs are trying to ensure that everyone gets an opportunity through workplace skills, especially girls with economic and social barriers.
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
