One day, as Aaliya’s friend was browsing through a newspaper, her eyes fell on an interesting article on some vocational training course being offered at a BASE centre in Srinagar. It said the centre had been set up by DB Tech in association with Ministry of Rural Development (Govt. of India). The centre offers three month-long livelihood training courses in various domains for underprivileged youth, to help them get entry-level positions in the job market. “She insisted me to be benefitted from the program which was being intended to uplift the less privileged youth like us,” shared Aaliya. Curious to know more, Aaliya along with a friend rushed to the centre and asked from the trainer of the DB Tech about the program and if she was eligible to enrol in the course, and whether there was any fee to be paid for it. She was pleasantly surprised when he told her that the course was not only free of cost, but also that her trainers would also assist her in finding a suitable job at the end of it.

 

She along with her friend enrolled in the BASE and was selected to undergo a course in Hospitality. What she learnt over those three months at LABS went far beyond the technical skills required to work in Hospitality sector. She also learnt several useful life skills that taught her to stand firm in times of adversity, and work steadily out of it with a positive outlook and a perseverant approach. She was given a fair amount of training in computer basics too, which she finds helpful at her workplace.

 

It opened up a new world for her, and she is now employed in Mobineers with a monthly salary of Rs 4500 pm. She says, “The BASE has course not only taught me several things about good hospitality, but also helped me restore my self-confidence, which is one of the important attributes an employer looks for in an employee”.