Delhi Police initiative YUVA aims to bring together under-privileged youth for skill development, employment

New Delhi [India], March 6 : A flagship community outreach initiative of Delhi Police, YUVA aims to bring together the youth of the capital from under-privileged sections of the society for skill development leading towards employment opportunities.
According to Devesh Chandra Srivastava, Joint Commissioner of Police Licensing, the increasing share of the Juvenile and youth in Crime in Delhi over the years has always been a serious concern for Delhi Police. Several preventive measures including community outreach programmes were introduced in affected areas by senior field formations through a systematic analysis of Crimes committed by Juveniles and Youth. Although some of these meaningful initiatives were effective in curbing juvenile delinquency and crime, committed by youth, it continued to increase.
Poverty and lack of opportunities were some of the important reasons for committing a crime by the underprivileged and marginalized youth staying in JJ Clusters and Resettlement Colonies. The increasing trend of crime required a comprehensive socio-economic scheme where the vulnerable youth could be brought into the mainstream of society through honing their hidden skills and providing them an ecosystem for their overall personality development on a sustained basis.
As per the Joint Commissioner of Police, a need was felt to integrate various existing local schemes at a macro level and thus the concept of YUVA came into existence.
YUVA is an initiative for skill enhancement of those sections of youth who are vulnerable to the cycle of crime. It has started a chapter in the Police-Public relationship and has emerged today as the flagship community outreach initiative of Delhi Police in a very short span of time.
YUVA aims to bring together the youth of the capital, both boys and girls, from under-privileged sections of the society for skill development leading towards employment opportunities. The partnership of YUVA with National Skill Development Corporation under the "Skill India" initiative of Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, has not only generated employment opportunities for the under-privileged and marginalize youth but has also been able to substantially curb deviance and criminal tendencies in the vulnerable youth.
On 29,08,2017, the then Union Home Rajnath Singh formally launched the YUVA initiative of Delhi Police in Vigyan Bhawan, in Delhi in the presence of Lieutenant Governor, Delhi Anil Baijal, with the objective of engaging and steering street children and youth towards the mainstream of society, providing them with opportunities to realize their hidden potential.
To begin with, 8 Training Partners in 18 Skills were identified for adoption in Delhi Police 'for imparting skill development training in collaboration with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)'. Initially, the target of 3000 seats was allotted by NSDC to impart training to youth under this scheme.
Further 5000 more seats were allocated by NSDC on 01.07.2018 for imparting skill development training during the 2nd phase of YUVA. In this phase, 12 more Police Stations were also identified for setting up of 11 YUVA Training Centres. Subsequently, 2700 more seats were allocated by NSDC in February 2019 for imparting training. Thereafter, in early 2020, 3000 seats were allotted, leading to the total target of 13700. As of date, YUVA Skill Centres are functional in 22 Police Stations all over Delhi.
Specialized Areas for Skill Development--Currently, Skill Development Training is being imparted in 17 different skills viz. Field Technician (Networking & Storage), Front Office Associate, Mobile Phone Hardware Repair Technician, Retail Sales Associates, Emergency Medical Technician, Field Technician (Computing & Peripheral), Documentation Assistant, RACW, Beauty Therapist, F&B Service Steward, Data Entry Operator, Make-up Artist, Customer Care Executive, Domestic Data Entry Operator, Self Employed Tailor, General Duty Assistant, and Assistant Beauty Therapist.
Placement of Trained Candidates--As on 31.12.2020, out of 13700 targets allotted for training, 13452 candidates have been enrolled, out of which 11817 candidates have been trained and 1635 candidates are presently undergoing training in various skills. A total of 6372 candidates (Male-3374 and Female-2998) were successfully employed in various companies of organized sectors through 55 job fairs & 73 in-house placement drives.