Name of the Person: Sangram Satpathy (Left the Job in 2007)
Designation: Asst. Manager , Micro Entrepreneurship Development Cell Contact no: Alumni: 2005 Preliminary impression: The job involved providing strategic inputs to various programs being run by DRF the most prominent among which was LABS.
Track Record
Summer Placement: Final Placement: Position Offered:
About the Company: Set up in 1996, Dr. Reddys Foundation (DRF) is a non-profit partner of Dr. Reddys Laboratories. DRF acts as a catalyst of change that fosters, develops and promotes initiatives at individual, group and organization levels to achieve sustainable development. Driven by the belief that equity in education and livelihoods helps in building an inclusive society, DRF strives to create quality opportunities in these two areas, with particular focus on economically disadvantaged youth. It works in partnership with all concerned stakeholders in this endeavour.
Dr. REDDYS FOUNDATION
Areas in which the company is involved Livelihoods DRF works with rural and urban youth, youth with disability and farmers to address the issues of employability, income generation and consequent improvement in quality of life. Key Interventions: Livelihood Advancement Business School (LABS) - an effective short- term skill development program that prepares youth for careers in emerging service sectors such as Hospitality, Customer Relations and Sales/ Retail Sales. Livelihood Advancement Business School for People with Disability (LABS-PwD) - was born out of a need to develop market-driven skills among people with disabilities to improve their employability and help them achieve economic independence. The program seeks to reduce unemployment and the social and economic marginalization of disabled people by increasing placements and sensitizing potential employers. Livelihood Advancement Business School for Farmers ( LABS-F) provides small and marginal farmers with knowledge and access to ecologically sustainable and cost-effective technologies and methods to improve agricultural productivity and net income. The program also identifies employment potential in nearby developing areas and uses this information to skill rural youth and link them with jobs.
Education DRF has a firm belief that every child should have access to right education and schooling. To realize this, DRF works with schools, communities and other stakeholders apart from developing strategies to bring children of all age groups into mainstream education. It fights child labour and strives to provide quality education to children who are deprived of it. Using schools as community learning resource centres, it develops local knowledge and leadership, and implements innovative schooling strategies in association with the mainstream education system.
Relevant courses: Understanding Development Organisations Agriculture Output and Food Marketing Social & Ethical Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility Human Resource Management Community Mobilisation and Institution Building Rural Livelihood Systems
Relevance to Rural Management Dr Reddys Foundation (DRF) provides small and marginal farmers with knowledge and access to ecologically sustainable and cost-effective technologies and methods to improve agricultural productivity and net income. The program also identifies employment potential in nearby developing areas and uses this information to skill rural youth and link them with jobs. This not only addresses the problem of underemployment of rural youth, but also reduces their dependency on agriculture by providing alternate sources of income generation. The program is aimed at enhancing the economic well-being of marginalized communities by: Enabling higher productivity and agricultural sustainability on the farm Transfer of small and appropriate technologies for marginal farmers Reducing pressure on farms by skilling youth and placing them in jobs The program has reached out to over 7,394 farmers to date, enhancing their livelihoods for an estimated aggregate benefit of over Rs 56 million, with a ten- fold return on investment (ROI). In addition, 570 rural youth have also been skilled and placed, with an average monthly salary of Rs 4,500. The improved cash flows to these families are bringing in many-faceted changes and positively impacting the quality of their lives.