On the occasion of World Youth Skills Day, HDFC Bank today highlighted a significant milestone, of having skilled over 7.2 lakh youth across India since the inception of the Bank’s CSR programme, Parivartan. The Bank currently has over 70 active projects in the area of Skill Development across different states, covering multiple sectors including IT/ITeS, retail, healthcare, manufacturing and agriculture.Skill Development and Livelihood Enhancement is a key focus area of the Bank’s Parivartan programme, its umbrella brand for all CSR initiatives.
Its initiatives focus on two key areas:skill development for employment generation and,livelihood enhancement with an emphasis on entrepreneurship, particularly in rural communities. The employment-generation programmes offer National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF)-aligned certificate courses lasting three to six months, covering sectors such as Finance and Business Services, Retail and Sales, Hospitality and Tourism, Healthcare, IT and IT Enabled Services, Construction and Manufacturing, Beauty and Wellness, Apparel and Textiles, and Education and Training. These programmes have achieved placement rates ranging from 60 to 70 per cent. A recent addition to the Bank’s skilling centres is the Parivartan Skills Academy in Jaipur, which provides locally relevant training pathways leading to sustainable employment and entrepreneurship. This academy is part of a wider network across India, through which HDFC Bank aims to skill a total of 2 lakh youth in the coming years.Concurrently, over six lakh individuals, including farmers, self-help groups, and community-based enterprises have benefited through Parivartan’s livelihood enhancement and entrepreneurship initiatives that foster sustainable economic participation. The skills developed through these initiatives include goat-rearing, bee-keeping, handloom weaving, mushroom cultivation, vermi-composting and organic farming.HDFC Bank Parivartan’s skilling initiatives span across urban and rural areas in several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal. The Bank’s efforts in skill development support inclusive growth and economic empowerment for young people from diverse backgrounds. The Bank’s inclusive approach is reflected in its training of over 4,300 differently-abled persons. In addition to skill training, HDFC Bank Parivartan organises youth entrepreneurship pitch events to encourage innovation and enterprise among young people. These efforts align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including decent work and economic growth, quality education, gender equality, and climate action.World Youth Skills Day, established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2014, recognises the importance of equipping young people with skills for employment and entrepreneurship to advance sustainable development.