July 21, 2015 - SKF India has announced the formal launch of its flagship CSR program-YES: Youth Empowerment at SKF for vocational skill development of underprivileged youth. The program aims at empowering the beneficiaries with the know-how of modern automobile maintenance and servicing skills in order to help them gain employment or become entrepreneurs. The program will train more than 5000 youth in the next five years.

The company announced the launch of this program as part of its CSR initiative, starting with the inauguration of the Pune Centre followed by the Bangalore centre, which is expected to be completely operational by the end of this year.

SKF India, with its vision of scaling up the project, will set up a total of five skill development centres across the country in the next five years.

SKF India's YES program, with the chosen implementation partners will prepare the beneficiaries to work at various automotive OEMs, dealer service network and workshops and also impart entrepreneurial skills to enable them to set up their own vehicle service stations in future.

As part of this program, the beneficiaries will undergo six months of rigorous vocational training in automotive two-wheeler and four-wheeler repair as per the Modular Employability Skills (MES) course of Ministry of Employment and Training (Government of India). The six month long program will additionally train students in personality, communication skills, customer service, goal setting, financing and Business Management skills, for the holistic development and growth.

Mr Shishir Joshipura, Managing Director & Country Head, SKF India said, "At SKF India, we believe that all our programs must make a meaningful difference in the lives of its recipients. The YES program will empower these young people and create employability, thus bridging the skill gap that India faces. The program is in line with the government's recently launched Skill India Mission and we are looking forward to scaling-up the project to take it across different parts of the country."

In Pune, SKF has chosen Don Bosco as its implementation partner in Pune and Sambhav Foundation in Bangalore. As part of the program in Pune, the SKF-Don Bosco teams will scout for prospective undergraduate youth from villages and cities around Pune. The six month long program will additionally train students for overall development in personality, communication skills and customer service.

Shrikant Savangikar - Director, Business Excellence, Quality and Sustainability, SKF India, said "It gives us great pride to launch the YES Program, with the all new state-of-the art infrastructure especially created for the YES Skill Development Centre. At SKF India, we strongly believe that for a company to sustain its success in the industry it must be environmentally and socially responsible and we are confident that this program will help a great deal in this direction".

To provide the best of theoretical and practical knowledge, SKF has built a training lab and an Interactive room at the Don Bosco Private Industrial Training Institute, which offers a superlative learning experience in a simulated environment. The interactive room will facilitate collaborative and interactive learning about automotive vehicle principles and applications, through the latest technology and e-learning courses, thereby, making them tech- savvy mechanics that can provide high quality reliable service to their customers.

Don Bosco ITI Chinchwad, a member of Don Bosco Tech India, was set up in Chinchwad, Maharashtra, on August 15, 1999 to cater to school dropout youth from poor households and tribals from remote states of the country. Don Bosco Private ITI, presently conducts two courses, a 6-month Modular Employable Skills (MES) Course and the ITI Courses which are spread over one and two years.

Don Bosco has been taking a keen interest to prepare skilled trainees as demanded by various industries. They have been very successful in establishing linkages with several Indian and multinational companies like Mahindra and Mahindra, Bajaj, Hero, Bosch, Knorr Bremse, Fiat-Chrysler Automotive, Godrej, Taj group of Hotels and other established companies. Linkages with these companies ensure that the students and instructors are constantly updated in their knowledge and skills, and thus are able to keep abreast with the changes in the world of employment that they will soon enter.