Empowering Girls to Attain Financial Independence: Story of a Determined Youth Areena

“I am happy to have a daughter like Areena, who has taken the responsibility of her family at this age which otherwise her father should have done!” exclaims her mother with a high sense of pride.

Areena from East Delhi, a youth in her early twenties, was identified by our Delhi Project Team for vocational training  support and since then there has been no looking back for her. She lives with her mother and younger brother. Her mother was suffering from eyesight related issues. When Bal Raksha Bharat’s team got in touch with her, she was enthusiastic and focused. Post her orientation, she knew that she wants to do something meaingful but was unable to decide which vocational course would be good for her. Finally, she decided to enroll herself for a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Course.

But unfortunately, after a month’s training, she had stopped coming for the training. When connected with her family, it was observed that certain family-related challenges had led her to take the drastic decision to leave her training midway. This was because she had to shoulder her mother and brother’s responsibility. Her mother’s health condition deteriorated suddenly while her father had left the family and started living somewhere else.

In many of our projects, Bal Raksha Bharat has been working with youngsters helping them be better equipped to find dignified employment. We understand the confusion which emerges in their minds when it comes to the selection of the course and sticking to the course will be primary and major issues to tackle. To deal with such problems, capacity-building training on the themes of Life Skills, Financial Literacy & Digital Literacy was included in the project.

After taking Life skills training and counselling from the trainers and counselors of Bal Raksha Bharat and formulating more clarity on her future plans, Areena had decided to enroll herself in a BPO course. After a month of vocational training, she suddenly denied attending the classes due to family issues.

The counsellor from Bal Raksha Bharat reached out to her and helped her to come to cope with her situation and enabled her to give a thought about her future and to take her decision. Following the counselling sessions, she had agreed to rejoin and complete the training. During the course of training, regular assistance was provided to her by the training team. On the other hand, the vocational training team started searching for placement options.

Areena got placed in Kidzania, a family entertainment centre in Noida as a Front Desk Sales Executive with a salary of INR 13000 per month. Her zeal helped her to ace the interview process 15 days before the completion of training. Braving all the challenges of her life, she has come out as a confident independent girl who is now able to finance the treatment of her mother and help her brother to continue with his studies.

She mentions, “I am quite happy and satisfied now, as I am able to support my family and help my mother with her treatment”.

Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship works with Vision 2025, which is “Unlock human capital to trigger a productivity dividend and bring aspirational employment and entrepreneurship pathways to all”.

To achieve this, the Ministry has adopted an ecosystem-enabling lens to transition India to a high-skills equilibrium and help create positive outcomes for individuals, enterprises and the economy. To contribute towards achieving this mission of the Government of India, Bal Raksha Bharat, through one of its initiatives is mobilising youth in Delhi for being engaged in vocational training that would take them a step ahead towards shaping their future and secure decent and skills-based employment opportunities.