This Centre located at Rajam came into being in January 2003. The institute is established under the joint sponsorship of GMRVF and Andhra Bank Rural Development Trust (ABRDT). NIRED is a residential facility with capacity for running four channels at a time and candidates are provided both technical and soft skill training in-house. They are helped with bank loans wherever required for starting their own enterprises. Also hand holding support is provided for 2 years to the trainees. Till now the institute has trained about 2000 young entrepreneurs.

The primary objective of NIRED is to identify, orient, motivate, train and assist youth to take up self employment ventures and to promote rural entrepreneurship. The institute offers various courses for youth, starting from product Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDP) to Process and Agricultural EDPs.

Information about the courses offered is disseminated through awareness camps held regularly in the target villages. These camps not only provide course related information but also provide counseling to young boys and girls, so that they are able to choose the course best suited for them. Where required, NIRED counsels the parents or family of the youth as well.

The candidates at the institute are mostly educated (Upto Std. VII) unemployed rural youth aged between 18 -35 years coming mainly from Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts. The selection process consists of written/skill test and a personal interview. Particular emphasis is placed on reaching out to the socially and economically disadvantaged.

Once a candidate is given admission to a course, he is provided free training, boarding and lodging as well as to and fro travelling expense. The institute has expert in-house as well as external resource persons who provide these trainings. Apart from the technical training, students are provided soft skills training, meditation and yoga classes etc. for their holistic development. After the candidates complete their course, the institute facilitates bank loans for them at low interest rates to help them set up their own enterprise. The institute also provides skill upgradation courses as and when required.

Post training support to trainees is the most distinguished feature of NIRED functioning. This follow up helps to sustain motivation level and to help overcome problems of new entrepreneurs. NIRED co-ordinates with other agencies influencing the setting up of self-employment ventures viz. Banks, government department, etc. Follow-ups are made through regular correspondence, individual contacts, meetings at village, taluk and district levels. Alumni of the institutes, officials from the bank and Government departments are also invited to such meetings. Such interactions help the trainees to cross procedural hurdles and ground their project, besides sustaining their motivation level.

Year wise settlement of NIRED trainees: 89%

Some of the courses being offered in the coming year at NIRED are:

• T.V., Radio, Tape recorder, VCD repairing and assembling
• Mobile phone and telecom repairs
• Cycle repair and assembling
• Tailoring
• Hand and machine embroidery
• Home nursing
• House wiring and plumbing
• Computer hardware
• Computer and DTP
• Tractor repairing
• Gents tailoring
• General EDP
• Four wheeler driving and repairing
• HMV repairing
• Form work carpentry
• Barbending
• Masonary
• Photography and Videography
• Skill upgradation programme
• Agri and technology transfer programmes
• Rural Dev & HRD programmes
• Awareness camps in villages

Based in Kasargod (Kerala) Bellikoth Institute of Rural Entrepreneurship Development is a collaboration between GMRVF and Andhra Bank Rural Development Trust. BIRED is a residential facility where candidates are provided both technical and soft skill training. 59 skill development programmes have been conducted in the institute and around 845 candidates have been trained in a variety of courses from medicinal plant cultivation to catering services.

The main objective of BIRED is to identify, orient, motivate, train and assist the rural youth to take self employment venture as an alternative career. The institute also provides counseling and project consultancy. Information about the courses is publicized through local newspapers. The selection is done mainly through an aptitude test and interview. While selecting trainees, priority is given to the economically and socially most disadvantaged.

The trainees are mostly educated (Std. VII) unemployed youth in the age group of 18-35 years, coming mainly from Kannur and Kozikod districts. The institute has candidates coming from some villages in Karnataka as well. Once selected, the candidates are provided free training, boarding, lodging and to and fro conveyance. Training is conducted by experienced guest faculties. Apart from the technical classes students are also given classes on soft skills, yoga and meditation, for their overall development.

BIRED facilitates loans for candidates, so that they are able to set up their own enterprises. The institute works in coordination with other agencies influencing the setting up of self-employment ventures viz. Banks, government department, etc. Follow-ups are made through regular correspondence, individual contacts, meetings at village, taluk and district levels. Such interaction ensures the trainees to cross procedural hurdles and ground their project besides sustaining their motivation level. The trainees are also provided skill upgradation programmes as and when required.

Some of the courses being offered in the coming year at BIRED are:

• DTP & Graphic designing.
• Two and Three wheeler mechanism.
• Wiring and Home Appliances Repairing.
• Gents' Beautician Course.
• Dress making& fashion designing.
• Machine & hand embroidery
• Pump set repair & motor rewinding
• Photography and Videography
• Cosmetic and Beauty Therapy
• Fabric Painting and Sari Designing
• Catering Services
• Gents' Tailoring Programme
• Digital Videography, Visual editing and dubbing
• Cinematography
• Heavy Duty Battery Assembling
• Medicinal Plants Cultivation
• Green Mussel Farming
• Orchid Cultivation
• Mushroom Cultivation

Swarna Bharathi Institute of Rural Entrepreneurship Development was established in 2003 at Nellore (Andhra Pradesh) and functions in collaboration with Andhra Bank Rural Development Trust and the Swarna Bharati Trust. The institute has trained over 600 candidates in about 24 skill development programmes. This is a residential facility and candidates are provided both technical and soft skill training here

The main objective of the institute is to identify, orient, motivate, train and assist the rural youth to take self employment venture as an alternative career. It also aims at capacity building of rural women. The candidates are mostly educated (upto Std. VII) unemployed rural youth from lower middle class background in the age group of 18-35 years. The selection procedure is based on personal interview and an aptitude test. Priority is given to the economically and socially disadvantaged. The trainees are provided free training, boarding and lodging and to and fro conveyance. Training is provided by experienced guest faculties and technicians.

Monitoring, follow up and evaluation of the trained candidates is a continuous process up to a period of 2 years after completion of the training programme. The follow-up is made through regular correspondence, telephone talk and personal visit to their places. The institute assists the needy candidates to secure bank loans and in setting up of micro enterprises. Skill upgradation programmes are conducted by the institute as and when required.

Some of the courses being offered in the coming year at NIRED are:

• Cell phone mechanism
• Computer Hardware
• Fashion Designing
• Cot Embroidery
• Tailoring & Dress Making
• Machine Embroidery
• Beauty Parlour Course
• TV & Radio Mechanism
• Skill upgradation on Machine Embroidery, Fabric Painting and Sari Designing
• Skill upgradation on Colour TV, DVD
• Sheep Farming
• Farmers Meets
• Pradhan Matri Rojgar Yojana EDP

Introduction:

A number of villages in and around Rajam produce sugarcane and supply the same to GMR sugar factory. The Cane Extension programme was started in April 2004 for the benefit of these villages.

Objectives:

• To facilitate the overall development of villages through active use of village volunteers.
• To develop leadership quality in youth of the villages.

Process:
To initiate activities, 25 volunteers were selected from these villages to work for the programme. Free homeopathy snakebite medicines were distributed to the villagers. Since then with the help of around 400 volunteers, a number of activities have been carried out for the overall development of more than 1000 sugarcane villages in and around Rajam,

Regular health camps are conducted for these villages. Youth leadership training programmes are organised with the purpose of developing leadership skills amongst youth. Other than regular programmes, emergency relief initiatives are also undertaken. For instance during floods in Rajam in 2006, clothes, uniforms, books, tool kits, food material and bamboo sticks were distributed to affected families as part of this programme..

Achievement/ strengths:
The active involvement of youth across the villages is the major achievement of this programme. 400 youth working as volunteers have come forward to serve their communities voluntarily.

The Foundation has recently started an Entrepreneurship Development Centre, GMRV-Centre for Empowerment and Livelihood (CEL) at Hyderabad. Since its inception in 2006, several vocational training programmes have been organized. Around 150 students have been trained till now in various skills.

The following are the types of training provided at the centre:

The centre provides skill training mainly to unemployed youth (from Std. VII pass to intermediate level) in the age group of 18-35 years. Most of them hail from Shamshabad, Mahenshwaram and Saroor Nagar Mandals. Particular emphasis is placed on reaching out to the socially and economically disadvantaged.

The selected trainees are provided free training, lunch as well as to and fro conveyance. At present the centre is not residential, but will become a residential facility soon. GMRVF is in the process of developing a full fledged centre spread over approximately 15,000 sq. ft for this facility in Hyderabad. Apart from the technical skill, great emphasis is placed on developing the entrepreneurial spirit of the participants, strengthening their motivation, communication skills, confidence, etc.

Students have also been sponsored to job-oriented courses including driving lessons, in other institutions. In an effort to encourage deserving youth for taking up professional courses, several candidates have been identified and sponsored to 'Landscaping and Survey' course at National Academy of Construction (NAC).

Follow-ups are made through regular correspondence, individual contacts, meetings etc. Such interaction ensures the trainees to sustain their motivation level. The Foundation works with potential employers to provide placements to candidates. It also tries to keep in regular touch with the candidates as well as the employers for two years to solve any potential problems that may arise and to sustain the motivational level of the trainees.

Settlement of GMRV-CEL trainees since 2006:

Some of the courses being offered in the coming year at GMRV-CEL are:

• Data Entry Operator and DTP
• Refrigeration and AC Mechanism
• Electrician
• Direct jobs for youth
• Computer Air Line Ticketing
• Driving
• Cell Phone repairing
• Beautician Course
• Carpentry

Introduction:
The Foundation acknowledges self help groups as a meaningful way to empower women. The aim is not only to help women organize themselves and inculcate saving habits, but also to equip these groups to actively participate and contribute to the development of local communities.

Some of the salient features of SHGs under the foundation are as follows.

• Ownership of the group by the members
• Affinity as the base for coming together
• Opportunity for collective learning
• Forum for inter-agency dialogue and cooperation
• Cost effective credit delivery mechanism.

Objectives:

• To organise women and inculcate saving habits through formation of Self Help Groups
• To equip self help groups to actively participate and contribute to the development of local communities.

Process:
The Foundation facilitators contact women in the community and motivate and encourage them to form groups. They are provided adequate information about the procedures to be followed to form an SHG and the related programmes and schemes they can benefit from. GMRVF also facilitates trainings related to the various accounting systems and processes of a SHG to strengthen and help the group function better.

Foundation currently facilitates 80 SHGs through group processes, motivation, training, etc. at Rajam and Mangalore. These SHGs have managed to get loans of upwards of Rs. 20 lakhs. The SHG members are engaged in a variety of income generation activities, from petty shops to fast food joints to shell picking.

Achievement/ strengths:

• There are good number of members, active participation, reasonable savings and enhanced group feeling across SHGs in all the locations.
• Various SHGs have borrowed loans and utilized them to start their own micro enterprises.
• In Mangalore GMRVF has formed an Apex Group named "Mahashakti Okkuta" for these SHGs, which has mobilized a fund of Rs.45, 000/-. This money is being lent on a group and individual basis to youth for business activities. The group holds regular monthly meetings and initiates income generation programmes. The group also monitors the working of SHGs, advises the members, conducts training programmes and supports new ventures.