LANXESS India adds to employability through its vocational skill centre

LANXESS India has established a skill development centre in Thane as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme to provide training to aspiring candidates looking for suitable employability. The LANXESS B-Able SKILL CENTRE was set up in association with BASIX Academy for Building Lifelong Employability Limited (B-Able) who is the implementation partner for the project for a period of three years covering Thane, Jhagadia and Nagda.

At an event in Thane, LANXESS AG Board of Management members Dr Rainier van Roessel and Dr Anno Borkowsky, along with Neelanjan Banerjee, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, LANXESS India, presented a cheque of Rs 5 million to D Sattaiah, CEO & MD of B-Able for project implementation in the second year.

In its first year, LANXESS India successfully trained 129 candidates in its centre in Thane wherein the candidates were given training under the categories of sewing machine operators and call centre executives. The courses started in January 2019 and after completion, candidates were assisted with placements. A total of 96 candidates have been placed in companies or have started their own business after the project concluded. LANXESS has supported B-Able on this project with the cost of mobilisation, training, human resource, rent for the facility, etc.

The project is focused on providing skill development training for the youth who are unskilled, semi-skilled, school drop outs and come from the underprivileged sections living in and around LANXESS India’s operations. LANXESS India has funded the project to provide sustainable livelihood to such underprivileged youth. This programme has been designed for three years starting from Thane in the first year, Jhagadia in the second and Nagda in the third year with nearly 125 candidates being trained each year.

For the current financial year, an on-ground survey in and around Jhagadia in Gujarat found that the most popular employability choices for the local youth with lower academic qualification was that of a retail trainee associate. Taking a lead from the survey conducted by B-Able, LANXESS has financially supported the project in Jhagadia this year.

The first batch of candidates has already commenced with batch strength of 25 participants.

Commenting on the project, Neelanjan Banerjee, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, LANXESS India, said, “Lack of higher education due to any reason should not be a hindrance in employability opportunities for the underprivileged youth of our nation. Through this project, we have attempted to provide skills to such youth that will help them sustain a decent livelihood. We see this project as a small gesture in contributing positively to the country’s skill development goals.”

D Sattaiah, CEO and MD, B-ABLE, said, “It is a gratifying experience to see these young boys and girls becoming self-confident and securing gainful employment with our training. We are fortunate to have partnered with LANXESS for this extremely productive and positive skill development programme. I am sure we will do exceedingly well going ahead, also.”