The Green Village in Raipur : facilitating the professional integration of excluded youth in India

Background of the project

The Indian government is working to help young people gain access to short technical and professional training programs via its Skill India campaign launched in 2015. Nevertheless, in many of India’s rural regions, youth live far from the labor market and their professional integration remains difficult.

Created in 2009, the association LP4Y helps youth in extreme poverty, especially in Asia, to integrate socially and professionally thanks to an innovative training approach based on entrepreneurship. 

In 2018, LP4Y launched a pilot project called the Green Village around 40 km away from Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, in partnership with the Indian government and local training centers. This project aims to help professionally trained youth living in this isolated rural area to enter the labor market. 

Description 

The Green Village created by LP4Y is in line with the regional development project around the city of Raipur, which offers strong economic potential and aims to shift to renewable energies.

Every three months, the Green Village hosts 80 youth who have already received professional training. There, they develop their hard and soft professional skills (such as time management, communication, organization and planning, budget management, teamwork, conflict management, etc.) by managing or building a micro-enterprise belonging to the Green Village. Their training includes support from personal development coaches.

The Green Village also hosts monthly events that raise awareness of environmental issues involving the local community.

Objectives 

The association aims to help youth accomplish their life projects and to bring them into the working world thanks to a network of partners and local actors. Within three years, the project will train 720 youth who will participate in the creation of 18 micro-enterprises serving the community. The youth will thus bring to Chhattisgarh their professional skills, namely in the field of renewable energies and sustainable development, as well as their entrepreneurial mindset.

First results 

Since July 2018, the project has trained 58 youth, who helped establish the first 7 micro-enterprises:

• The Eco-Group, providing services in landscaping, painting, electricity and plumbing. In this “green” micro-enterprise, supported by the Rexel Foundation, a team of 30 youth is contributing to the installation and maintenance of a hybrid solar system connected to the grid. In a second phase, they will receive professional training in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energies.
• The Bank of Saragreens, managing “Greens” (the local money), acting as a bank for the other micro-enterprises
• The Community C@fé, the local cybercafé and proximity store
• Growth Makers, an entity specializing in urbanism, construction planning and contractor relations
• The Golden Earth, specializing in ecological clay constructions, currently building the Green Village with ecological methods
• The Aja Khaja providing hostel services (youth and volunteer dormitories) and catering (3 meals per day)
• The Dream House, producing furniture and equipment for the Green Village.

Learn more about LP4Y 

LP4Y’s mission is to facilitate the social and professional integration of youth facing extreme poverty and isolation around the world. By creating entrepreneurial project incubators within slums, together with tailored training programs, it accompanies young people in achieving professional and social integration.