Concept of Rural Development & Self Employment Institute (RUDSETI) and Evolution of RSETI Movement in the Country - An Institutional framework for entrepreneurship development - By K N Janardhana, National Director for RSETIs, NACER Background Poverty and unemployment are the twin challenges faced by the Country. India has the advantage of having the largest youth population in the world. Harnessing youth power will help in transforming the Indian economy by reducing poverty and unemployment. Towards this end, RSETIs which are engaged in youth empowerment and enterprise promotion are looked upon as harbingers of hope for millions of youth. 1. Genesis of RUDSETI To mitigate the unemployment problem particularly among the rural youth and to prepare them to acquire skills to take up self-employment, a unique initiative was taken jointly by Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Educational Trust, SyndicateBank and Canara Bank to establish Rural Development & Self Employment Training Institute [RUDSETI] under the visionary leadership of Dr D Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Dharmasthala. The collective thinking gave concrete shape to an institutional framework in the form of Rural Development & Self Employment Training Institute and the first RUDSET Institute started functioning from Ujire near Dharmasthala in the year 1982. Encouraged by the success of RUDSETI experiment of Ujire, similar Institutes were established in different parts of the Country and at present there are 27 RUDSETIs in 17 States. So far, RUDSETI has trained 3.75 lakh youth of which 2.60 lakh trainees have successfully settled with a settlement rate of 69%, which is really a matter of satisfaction to the RUDSETI family. 2. Journey from RUDSETI to RSETI Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, New Delhi studied the concept of RUDSETI during 2007-08 and was highly impressed by the very successful RUDSETI model and accepted RUDSETI concept as a replicable model at the all India level and advised Banks to establish one RUDSETI type institute in each of their Lead Districts under the name Rural Self-Employment Training Institute (RSETI) for training the rural unemployed youth to take up self-employment ventures during 2008-09. With the presence of 354 RSETIs functional across the country in 2010-11 and more expected to follow, there was no uniformity in the outcomes since these RSETIs promoted by different Banks followed different norms of training. While seeking to establish the RUDSETI type institutions, the MoRD was fully conscious of the uniqueness of the RUDSETIs with their distinctive set of values, ethos and culture and desired that the RSETIs that are to be established under the new scheme shall conform to the values of the RUDSETI. Govt. of India also recognized that the principal reason behind the success of the RUDSETI model was the visionary leadership provided by Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade and the unflinching commitment and continued support extended by the other two Sponsors namely SyndicateBank and Canara Bank to the cause of
youth empowerment and decided that the same shall continue in the RSETIs to be established under the new scheme as well. When Dr D Veerendra Heggade foresaw that there will be one RSETI in each District of the Country, he was convinced of the urgent need to set up a National Level Organization to train the RSETI Directors/ Faculty on the best practices of RUDSETI to help them in discharging their duties effectively and directed Sri K N Janardhana, the then Executive Director, RUDSETI, CS, Ujire (on deputation from SyndicateBank) to prepare a roadmap for rolling out a National level organization. Coinciding with the Silver Jubilee of RUDSETI in 2008, the Board of Governors of RUDSETI dedicated National Academy of RUDSETI to the Nation as a National Level Resource Organization in the field of Entrepreneurship Development. 2.1 Signing of MOU between MoRD and NAR With a view to mentor and monitor the activities of RSETIs across the Country and to take care of training and capacity building of the Directors of these RSETIs, MoRD, Government of India entered into a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Academy of RUDSETI on 29th July 2011 to roll out a roadmap approved for improving the effectiveness of the RSETIs. 2.2 Establishment of National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) In terms of the MOU executed on 29.07.2011, the Office of the National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) was established at Bangalore to provide an effective mechanism for mentoring and monitoring the activities of RSETIs to ensure that all the RSETIs inculcate the best practices of RUDSETI and adopt its ethos and values and work on the lines of best performing RUDSETIs in the Country. The Office of the National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) was formally inaugurated on 20-12-2011. National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) is headed by Sri K N Janardhana, National Director for RSETIs (NDR), for all-round monitoring and mentoring functions of RSETIs pan India and reports to President, NAR, Dr D Veerendra Heggade. State Directors for RSETIs at the State level do the monitoring and mentoring work for all the RSETIs and coordinate with stakeholders in their command area covering 25-30 RSETIs in a State. 587 RSETIs across the country are functional and each unit is headed by a Director duly supported by faculty members, office assistants and attenders. The typical components of training at an RSETI are furnished below: 2.3 Training Methodology Through structured psychological exercises, the participants in an RSETI are stimulated to shed inhibitions and develop interest in learning. pg. 2
Micro Lab Ring Toss Game Tower Building Boat Game Group Activity Role Play Group Discussion Experience Sharing Hands on Practice Group Activity Besides lecture sessions, behaviour simulation games such as Ring Toss, Tower Building and Boat making Games, exercises, field visits, hands on experience, interface with supporting system, group discussions, role play, case study etc. are used in the training to make it effective. Most important aspect of the training is that the sessions are conducted in vernacular languages only. 2.4 Infrastructure Government of India is providing infrastructural grant support of Rupees One Crore for construction of RSETI building and State Governments provide land free of cost for construction of RSETI buildings. Some of the RSETIs have well-developed campuses consisting of Administrative Office, Classrooms, Work Shed, Dormitories to trainees, Guest Rooms to Guest Faculty Members, Mess facilities, Library, Audio-Visual Aids & Recreational facilities, which give them the comfort to facilitate quick learning. By the end of March 2018, about 400 RSETIs will have their own buildings. pg. 3
2.5 Training Programmes Training modules of RUDSETIs/ RSETIs are so designed that the Entrepreneurship Development is achieved through Human Resource Development. 56 courses are aligned with Common Norms Notification issued by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. a) For first generation entrepreneurs: Agricultural EDPs: Agricultural EDPs are intended to cover Agriculture & Allied activities, Dairy farming, Poultry, Bee keeping, Comprehensive Horticulture, Plant Nursery etc. Product EDPs: These EDPs are designed to impart specific production skills. Examples of Product EDPs are Dress Designing for Women/Men, Agarbathi making, Soft toys making, Food processing & Bakery products, Embroidery, Fabric painting etc. Process EDPs: EDPs under this category cater to service sector and include activities such as Electric Motor rewinding & Pumpset maintenance, Beauty Parlour management, Basic Photography & Videography, Multi Phone servicing, Domestic Electrical Appliances Repair, Two Wheeler servicing, Computer DTP, Refrigeration & Airconditioning, Computer tally, Computer basics etc. General EDPs: General EDPs cover fundamentals of entrepreneurship and issues concerning establishment and management of an enterprise in any type of industrial, business or service activity. This covers Rural Entrepreneurship Development Programme (REDP), EDP for Women, PMEGP etc. pg. 4
b) For the established entrepreneurs: Skill Upgradation: These programmes are intended to improve the skills and enhance capability of the settled trainees. Growth Programmes: These programmes aim and achieve higher goals in life and business for the settled trainees 2.6. Eligibility Criteria for training programmes Any unemployed youth in the age group of 18-45 years, irrespective of Caste, Creed, Religion, Gender and Economic Status, having aptitude to take up self-employment or wage employment and having some basic knowledge in the related field can undergo training which is totally free of cost. Any unemployed youth desirous of undergoing training may send his/ her request in a plain paper to RSETI or can download and send the application from the website http://rudsetitraining.org/ 2.7 Escort Services The cutting edge of RSETI training is the post training follow up for sustained motivation and to enable the trainees to become entrepreneurs / get settled through wage employment. The effort made includes: Two years' Post-training follow up - Through regular correspondences, individual contacts, Unit visit, Village/Taluk/District/Branch level meeting etc. Facilitating credit Linkage with the banks for setting up of micro enterprises 2.8 Management Each Bank, through the Trust / Society established by them, monitors the functioning of their RSETIs. CMD / ED and the top executives of sponsor organizations in their ex-officio capacity are on the Board of the Trust. A deputed officer from Bank heads the RSETI as Director and is also a convener for District Level RSETI Advisory Committee involving different stakeholders at the District level, which guides the RSETI in achieving objectives. 2.9 What sets RSETI apart Visionary leadership provided by Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade as Hon. Co- Chairman of National Level Advisory Committee (NLAC) on RSETIs Sponsored by a Nationalized / Private Bank under the supervision of MoRD, GOI. Free training with free food and free accommodation. Campus approach with unique training methodology. Short term training with long term follow up / Escort services for a period of Two years. pg. 5
Practical orientation, rigorous training and extended hours of learning. Past trainees becoming trainers and imparting training. High settlement rate of trained candidates. Trained candidates getting sustainable income for their livelihood. Employment generation by settled trainees. This is the best part of RSETI training which has got multiplier effect on the society and is also one of the most significant contributions to the Nation in addressing unemployment problem in its own way. Effective administration of inputs on Entrepreneurship Development 3. Activities of National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) since its inception 3.1 Renewal of MOU between MoRD and NAR With the close mentoring and monitoring of RSETIs by National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER), there was an allround improvement in the performance of RSETIs which led to renewal of MOU by MoRD for a further period of 3 years from 1 st August 2014. There could not have been a better endorsement of the faith and confidence of MoRD in the effective role played by National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) in mentoring and monitoring the RSETIs than renewal of MOU for a further period, thereby showing the continuing trust in the RSETI movement. The activities of the National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) since its inception are as follows: 3.2 Conclave of RSETI Directors: Among the many best practices of RUDSETI model, organizing the Annual Conference of Directors of RUDSETI for their Capacity Building at Dharmasthala once in a year was found to be very effective. Convinced with the purpose and usefulness of this initiative, MoRD has made it a standard practice for the Sponsor Banks to organize two days Conclave of RSETI Directors as an Annual event. All the Banks have successfully organized six rounds of Conclaves of RSETI Directors since 2011 every year and were able to bridge the gaps identified during the Conclaves and also bring about desired improvements in the functioning of their RSETIs. The best part of the Conclave is the thorough review conducted by National Director for RSETIs (NDR), MoRD officials and Sponsor Bank Executives which has resulted in a greater realization by RSETIs about their strengths and weaknesses, crucial role the Institute can play in shaping the future of the trainees and the amount of goodwill it can generate by helping the poor unemployed youth to stand on their own legs. pg. 6
3.3 Execution of an MOU between KVIC and National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) To explore new frontiers to extend the reach of RSETI services to a large number of eligible candidates, efforts were made to collaborate with other institutions who share more or less the same motto, so as to develop synergy and expand the reach of RSETIs. National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) has entered into an MOU with Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) for training Prime Minister s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) candidates. Signing of MOU, a landmark event for National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER), offers the benefit of convergence in arranging Entrepreneurship Development Programme to PMEGP beneficiaries and also in linking trainees who have undergone training in skill development at RSETIs with PMEGP scheme. On account of this arrangement, the RSETIs would benefit by way of sourcing of beneficiaries from KVIC, the beneficiaries will have the benefit of margin money subsidy from KVIC and credit linkage of entrepreneurs and the Banks will have RSETI trained candidates as borrowers who will be better borrowers with good repayment prospects. The MOU was executed by Sri B H Anil Kumar, Commissioner for Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and Joint Secretary, MSME and Shri K N Janardhana, NDR, National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) on 20 th February 2015 at Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi. The MOU was exchanged by Sri Kalraj Mishra, Hon ble Union Minister of MSME, Govt. of India and Dr D Veerendra Heggade, Hon. Co-Chairman, National Advisory Committee on RSETIs in the august presence of Sri Madhav Lal, Secretary, Ministry of MSME, officials of Ministry of MSME, CMDs and Top Executives of Banks and KVIC. 3.4 Adoption of uniform MIS by all RSETIs All the details of training and settlement and the statutory information on the conduct of meetings etc are maintained in a robust MIS useful for all the stakeholders and the data is dynamic. 3.5 Transparency and information in Public Domain All the activities of National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) and information on the management structure, eligibility for training at RSETI, types of training programmes organized, performance of RSETIs, list of RSETIs and State Directors for RSETIs etc., are all made available in the National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) website at www.nacer.in, which can be accessed by interested persons. In addition to this, an exclusive MIS website is also available for MIS data containing latest updates on the performance of individual RSETIs. 3.6 RUDSETI / RSETI Bazaars RSETI Bazaars are organized by to coincide with various local festivals and any events of local importance which widens the exposures for RSETIs and their products. pg. 7
3.7 RUDSETI / RSETI Stalls To create awareness about the activities of RUDSETIs/RSETIs, important forums / occasions such as National Festivals, Krishi Mela, visit of high level dignitaries to RSETIs, other occasions such as Blood Donation Camp, Harvest Festival, RSETI Awareness Weeks, Bank Foundation Day, etc., are made use of to put up RUDSETI/RSETI stalls exhibiting the publicity brochures, products/ prepared by RSETI trainees. In these stalls, activities of RUDSETIs /RSETIs are explained and application forms from eligible candidates are collected for enrolling them for training at RSETIs. This initiative has been found to be useful to RSETIs/ RUDSETIs in reaching out to thousands of people in one go and National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) has taken steps to ensure that Stalls are put up at all important events in their area of operation. 3.8 KUSHALATHA - Quarterly Bulletin of National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) Kushalatha is the House magazine which provides a forum for RSETIs to share their experiences and showcase their achievements with their peers and other stakeholders as it gives them an opportunity to highlight the important events organized by them. Participation from the RSETI Directors has improved significantly over the years making it much more broad based and RSETIs have shown keen interest in contributing success stories to Kushalatha apart from reporting other important events organized by them. 4.0 Grading of RSETIs A system of assessment of performance of RSETIs, based on transparent grading criteria, once in a year has been put in place. The focus of this exercise is to maintain certain quality parameters in the functioning of RSETIs, which includes adherence to the laid down guidelines, quality of training and post-training follow up mechanism at the RSETIs for ensuring settlement of trained candidates, best practices followed, achievement of target etc., The RSETIs are classified into AA, A, B, C, D Categories based on the marks obtained in the grading exercise, which is done by external officials (not directly working in the said RSETI). 4.1 RSETI Diwas A National Meet to recognize the Best Performers To motivate the best performing RSETIs/ stakeholders/sponsor Banks/ SRLMs etc., a special function - RSETI Diwas is held annually in a befitting manner and RSETIs are recognized based on the grades obtained and trophies and certificates are distributed. RSETI Diwas is graced by none other than the Hon ble Union Minister for Rural Development and attended by Dr D Veerendra Heggade, President, NAR and Hon. Co-Chairman, NLAC on RSETIs and Chief Executives / Top functionaries of Banks, Top officials of MoRD and other stakeholders. pg. 8
5.0 Performance Highlights of the RSETIs With the initiatives taken by the Sponsor Banks and the continuous mentoring and monitoring of all the RSETIs by the National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER), as many as 22,87,020 unemployed youth were trained by 587 functional RSETIs across the Country since inception of the RSETIs upto the end of March 2017. Out of this, 15,05,571 candidates have settled with a settlement percentage of 66. These candidates have been able to get a sustainable income from their enterprises thereby helping in improving the quality of life. 5.1 Recognition to RUDSETIs / RSETIs Received FICCI award for Rural Development for the year 1998-99. Received Suvarna Karnataka Rajyotsava award for Social Service for the year 2006-07. Received National level SIDBI Award for distinguished service to MSMEs for the year 2011 Sri K. C. Amin, past trainee of RUDSETI, Brahmavar received Citi Bank Best Entrepreneur award for the year 2007-08. Smt Dorette Christabel, past trainee of RUDSETI, Bengaluru received Citi Bank Best Entrepreneur award for the year 2008-09. Sri Prakash Dasanur, past trainee of RUDSETI, Dharwad has bagged Bharti Entrepreneur of the Year Award - 2008 instituted by EDII, Ahmedabad. Sri K N Janardhana, NDR, NACER was conferred with the prestigious AITMC award by Sri Krishna Pal Gurjarji, Minister of State for Social Justice, Government of India. Sri K N Janardhana, NDR, NACER received the prestigious National Entrepreneurship Award 2016 from Sri Rajnath Singh, Hon ble Union Home Minister and Sri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Hon ble Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship on 30.01.2017 at New Delhi Sri K N Janardhana, NDR, NACER received National Excellence Award in recognition of contributions of RSETIs in addressing unemployment problem in the Country. The award was given away by Sri Kalraj Mishra, Hon'ble Union Minister for MSME on 17.06.2017 at Indore, Madhya Pradesh. pg. 9
Conclusion It is gratifying that the RUDSETIs/ RSETIs have emerged as vibrant institutions actively involved in addressing the unemployment problem and in shaping the destiny of a large number of unemployed youth. It is also a testimony to the sagacity of the sponsors that many of the candidates trained by RUDSETI / RSETI have bagged National and State level awards for excellence in their area of activity. The planners and policy makers are looking upon RUDSETIs / RSETIs as a source of valuable experience in training, skill development and employment generation, while shaping their policies. The RSETIs have immense potential to scale up operations to meet the growing employment needs of the population and the National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) looks forward to contributing its mite in promoting youth empowerment and enterprise promotion. Instead of writing someone else s account through wage employment, after three to five years of collegiate education, it is more meaningful to write one s own account by embarking upon some self-employment Dr. D. VEERENDRA HEGGADE PRESIDENT, RUDSET Institute For further details / clarifications/ suggestions, RSETI well-wishers may contact the following numbers: Phone: 080-49594407; Fax: 080 23391515; Mobile: 9845587949/ 9481301449 or send their views by email to: cpcnar@gmail.com, edjanardhan@gmail.com They may also visit us at: Website: www.nacer.in If anyone wants to visit us personally, our office address is as follows: The National Director for RSETIs National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER) (Under the aegis of MoRD, Govt. of India) Renukaleela, No.1210, 1st Floor, 80 Feet Road, Chandra Layout BANGALORE 560 040 pg. 10
Bank-wise No. of RSETIs functional as on 31.03.2017 Sl. No. of Name of the Sponsor Bank No. RSETIs 1 Allahabad Bank 21 2 Andhra Bank 12 3 Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank 1 4 Assam Gramin Vikash Bank 5 5 Bank of Baroda 49 6 Bank of India 43 7 Bank of Maharashtra 7 8 Canara Bank 27 9 Central Bank of India 46 10 Corporation Bank 2 11 DCC Bank, Bidar 1 12 Dena Bank 12 13 ICICI Bank 2 14 IDBI Bank 1 15 Indian Bank 12 16 Indian Overseas Bank 13 17 Jammu & Kashmir Bank 12 18 Kotak Mahindra Bank 1 19 Meghalaya Co-operative Apex Bank 1 20 Meghalaya Rural Bank 1 21 Oriental Bank of Commerce 5 22 Punjab & Sind Bank 3 23 Punjab National Bank 55 24 RUDSETI 27 25 State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur 8 26 State Bank of Hyderabad 12 27 State Bank of India 116 28 State Bank of Mysore 2 29 State Bank of Patiala 8 30 State Bank of Travancore 4 31 SyndicateBank 16 32 Tripura Gramin Bank 1 33 UCO Bank 27 34 Union Bank of India 14 35 United Bank of India 16 36 Uttarakhand Gramin Bank 1 37 Vijaya Bank 3 Bank-wise Total 587 State-wise No. of RSETIs functional as on 31.03.2017 Sl. No. Name of the State/ Union Territories No. of RSETIs 1 Andhra Pradesh 15 2 Arunachal Pradesh 1 3 Assam 26 4 Bihar 39 5 Chhattisgarh 18 6 Gujarat 28 7 Haryana 21 8 Himachal Pradesh 10 9 Jammu & Kashmir 21 10 Jharkhand 25 11 Karnataka 33 12 Kerala 14 13 Madhya Pradesh 51 14 Maharashtra 35 15 Manipur 1 16 Meghalaya 5 17 Mizoram 1 18 Nagaland 1 19 Odisha 30 20 Punjab 18 21 Rajasthan 35 22 Sikkim 1 23 Tamil Nadu 31 24 Telangana 10 25 Tripura 5 26 UT Andaman & Nicobar Islands 27 UT Dadra & Nagar Haveli 1 28 UT Lakshadweep 1 29 UT Puducherry 1 30 Uttar Pradesh 76 31 Uttarakhand 13 32 West Bengal 19 State-wise Total 587 1 pg. 11