Nishikant Khajuria

For hundreds of educated youth from Jammu and Kashmir,their dream of working in big cities and metros with topCorporate Houses or even MNCs, would have never become areality had `Udaan’ not provided them wings of skill develop-ment and a platform to take off their successful flight into theprofessional career.

Thanks to the Government of India’s Special IndustryInitiative `Udaan’-a unique partnership between theCorporates, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)and educated youth of J&K, for providing an opportunity toaround eight thousand Graduate, Post Graduate and Diplomain Engineering candidates from this State to exhibit their pro-fessional abilities while working in reputed companies acrossIndia.

Whether it was Mudassir from Anantnag or Ishfaq Ahmadfrom Baramulla, Pankaj Choudhary from Purkhoo Camp orSheeba from Jammu or Sawan Sharma from Kathua or manyothers like them, it was `Udaan’ that honed their skills forscripting a success story in beginning their respective profes-sional life.

“Despite being B Tech from a reputed Institute, my knowl-edge was only theoretical as I did not know much about prac-tical work like developing a website. But after my selection dur-ing a last year drive by Udaan and the subsequent three andhalf month training, I was introduced to the computer lan-guage and transformed into a professional outlook,” saysPankaj Choudhary, who is presently working with MBD Groupas Consultant.

Similarly, according to Aditya Gupta of Jammu, who isworking with TNS at Reliance 4G Project in Shimla, he expe-rienced a huge gap from what they had studied at college andwhat were they expected to perform at job. “This gap wasbridged by the technical training imparted under “DigitalWireless Technology” program by TNS under Udaan schemethrough NSDC,” he added.

`Udaan’ is funded by Ministry of Home Affairs and imple-mented by NSDC. The program is focused on youth of Jammu& Kashmir who are Graduate, Post Graduate and three yearDiploma Engineers. The aim is to provide skills and job oppor-tunities to them. Simultaneously, the aim is also to provideexposure to corporate India towards the rich talent pool avail-able in J&K. The target is to reach out to 40,000 youth in J&Kover a period of 5 years.

It was observed that youth from J&K were unable to findemployment in many companies as either they were unawareof the opportunity in the corporate world or the latter wasunaware of the talent pool that existed in J&K. The principalfocus of the Udaan programme is to create an ecosystem thatwould bridge this gap. The Udaan programme is designed toencourage corporates to travel to J&K, meet with the youth andhire aspirants who wish to explore the opportunity to workwith corporates. Udaan provides a framework of support to theyouth to travel, undergo training in firms and transit to work.

The process involves three steps. At step one, the prospec-tive partner Corporates submit to NSDC proposals, which areevaluated and approved by Proposal Approval Committee ofUdaan. Thereafter, candidates from Jammu and Kashmir reg-ister on the website and then partner corporates identify andselect candidates through the website and selection drives.

At step two, selected candidates are requested to joinUdaan partners training centres where they undergo training,ideally between 3 to 6 months, for a defined program.

Travel, boarding and lodging costs are reimbursed andbesides this, a stipend is also provided to the candidates dur-ing the training period. A candidate once joins an Udaan train-ing programme is not permitted to undergo any other Udaantraining programs in any other corporate. And at the third andlast step, at the end of training, candidates are assessed basedon their training for a job position.

During the last three years, 18,803 candidates joinedUdaan Programme for skill development and 10, 679 of themcompleted the training. More than eighty percent of them areplaced in reputed Corporate Houses and are very much satis-

fied with their job.According to Swan Sharma, who is working as Consultant

in IMS Health, journey with Udaan started last year after shewent through a telephonic interview with mobilization team ofIMS. “As I am a science background student with B Tech inBiotechnology and M Tech in Food Processing Technologywhile IMS Health is a big pharmaceutical consulting firm, so Ichoose IMS for the training under Udaan. It’s a 6 months jour-ney which included first few months of classroom trainingabout soft skills and personality development and rest of thetime for On Job Training in the company,” she informed.

“Udaan was introduced to me by word of mouth. Lookingback in time, the decision of being affiliated to Udaan provedto be a liberating experience when I was employed inAccenture a year back in March 2015. Though an eventful jour-ney, it made me stronger to struggle, and build firm founda-tions to climb the corporate ladder. After joining the trainingprogram with Accenture in Delhi, I realized that what oneneeds is a right chance and a right decision,” says SheebaRaina.

NSDC is aiming to train over 40,000 youths from 22 dis-tricts of J&K over the next five years, covering the organizedRetail, Financial Services, Information Technology andTelecom, Infrastructure, Oil and Gas, Hospitality,Manufacturing, Paramedics and Life Sciences sectors. So far,68 leading corporate and public sector undertakings have part-nered with the NSDC for the Udaan project. They include theNTPC, BHEL, ONGC, HAL, Canara Bank, Wipro, TCS, HCLTechnologies, Infosys, Bajaj Allianz, Yes Bank, Religare,Accenture, Tata Motors, etc.

Despite a tremendous response and encouraging results,there were also some teething problems, which had been causeof worry for the Government as well as the partner Corporates.Over 18,000 youth registered themselves with ‘Udaan’ butsome of them left the training midway for different reasons,like home sick feeling, other domestic grounds or conflictinginterest level notwithstanding best of facilities available in

form of boarding, lodging, stipend and travel re-imbursement,being provided by the NSDC through Corporate partners.

“My experience in the training was very good, the hostelaccommodation was by far the best one I have ever seen. Theaccommodation had 24 hr housekeeping facility and on-callfood delivery; food in the mess was also very good. The train-ers explained each and every concept very clearly. It was agreat experience all together,” says Mudassar Javed ofPulwama, presently working as Project Consultant with KPMGafter completion of his training under Udaan.

Similar views were echoed by Ishfaq Ahmad of Baramullaand other candidates, who have successfully completed theirtraining with different Corporate partners under Udaan pro-gramme.

While interacting with this scribe, these young profession-als, who can be described as ambassadors of NSDC’s Udaan,also sought to quell the misinformation by some negative ele-ments. “There are certain bad mouthing which has been donefor the project, but if it makes any difference, I would like to saythat wonderful and equal opportunities are given to each andevery student enrolled in the program, but ultimately it’s up tothe individual that in which direction they choose to sail theirboat,” they said with the message to J&K youth to make thebest out of this noble initiative of Ministry of Home Affairs andNSDC, an excellent platform to get the much required expo-sure into the corporate world.

Mudassir Ahmad of Baramulla, who is presently workingwith IMS Health as Research Officer after training underUdaan, has a family business in Kashmir and he also got anopportunity to go back to Valley while working with a compa-ny but he refused the offer. “For making a career in Corporatesector, I preferred to stay in Delhi, which provides numerousopportunities of growth, particularly the options to switchovereasily ,” he explained while exhorting the J&K youth to comeout of their comfort zone and empower themselves throughUdaan instead of running for Government jobs.

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016 INTERNET EDITION : www.dailyexcelsior.com/magazineA tribute to..............PPaaggee 44 PPoosstt GGrraadduuaattee..........PPaaggee 22

UUDDAAAANN FFOORR JJ&&KK YYOOUUTTHH

K.D Maini

Every year Ramkund Mela is organized at Ramkund Mendhar on 14th of‘Chaitra (March) and is known as ‘Mela Chetar Chodas’. Devotees from allparts of Poonch and Rajouri districts participate in it. After Ramayan Path,Kirtan, Bajan and Parvachans the devotees are take a dip in the holy Kundsof Ramkund, Sita Kund and Lakshman Kund. Since the temple is located inthe village Narol where except Pujari no Hindu population resides even thenthe Mela is organized with the support of the natives of the area. Therefore,it has becomes a symbol of communal harmony and composite cultural her-itage of the people of this border district. The religious programme continuesfor one full day.

Ramkund is also a symbol of our ancient culture, art and traditions. Thisis the oldest temple in Poonch region. As per the archaeological report, thisbeautiful temple was built by Raja Lalita ditya (i.e. between 724 AD and 761AD). Its style, architecture and the age of the temple is the same as of thosetemples built by Raja Lalitaditya in Kashmir. This temple having very attrac-tive look and history is embedded in the past from the religious point of view,but remained out of sight due to locational disadvantages. Now, this oldshrine is regaining its erstwhile status.

Ramkund temple is located in a sleepy village Narol of Mendhar tehsil 62kilometers from Poonch township. This important religious place is locatedin a deep gorge at the foothill of Shah Star Range of mountains from all sides.At present, there are three sacred ponds apart from the ancient temple. Theyare known as Ram Kund, Lachman Kund and Sita Kund. Ramkund is the big-ger in size (25’ X 25’), than Lachman Kund and Sita Kund and a bit elevatedfrom the other two. A spring water emerges exactly on the northern side ofRamkund. The water of this spring pours into Ramkund which overflows toLakshman Kund and at last Sita Kund. The later is the smallest in size. Thesekunds have been excavated in such a way that the water of spring after fillingall the kunds flows out in Nallah. On the eastern side of Ramkund, there is ahistorical temple of 8th century. Stone structure stair case begins from theeastern side of Ramkund upto the entrance of the temple. At present, thereis an idol of Hanuman which was installed in the temple in the recent past.On the northern side, a small structure houses the residence of Pujari and acowshed. A ‘Kutiya’ has also been constructed near the temple for ‘Sadhus’and pilgrims. The western side of this Holy place is surrounded by bananatrees and small garden of plums which gives this place look of an ‘Ashraam’.

As per Rajtarangi of Kalhan a there is very interesting story behind theconstruction of this temple. Kalhan narrates that Raja Lalitaditya who was agreat warrior and had converted Poonch town into Chawani (cantonment) ofhis forces named this place as Purn-Utsva (with the passage of time, thisname became Poonch from Purn-Utsva). Kalhan writes that once Raja

Lalitaditya left for hunting in the jungle and reached this place, in theevening. At this very solitary place, he saw in the nearby a girl singing a devo-tional song while a beautiful girl was dancing in this uninhabited place. Whenthe devotional song was over, both the girl bowed their heads at this placeand left. The next day also the same course was repeated by the same girls.Then Raja Lalitaditya came before these girls and enquired from them whythey were dancing and singing their devotional song at a lonely place in thejungle. The girls replied that they were Dev dasis and doing so on the direc-tion of their mothers and grand mothers. “This is our traditional job but wedo not know the reason of our dancing at this place”. Raja thought that theremay be some sacred place in the past at that spot. Next day he ordered for theexcavation of that particular place where the Devdasis were offering prayer inthe evening. After some excavation, two old temples came out on the surfacefrom the earth whose doors were shut. When Raja opened the door, he sawthat two idols of Keshav were installed there. On the back of these idols, itwas engraved that these idols were installed by Ramchander Ji during hisvisit to Kashmir. Raja Lalitaditya took out these idols to Kashmir along withhim and he installed the idol of Ram Chander Ji in the temple of VishnuParihas in Parbaarspur, while the second idol was taken by the Queen andshe installed it in Chakrshveri temple.

It appears that while taking the original idols from Ramkund temple, RajaLalita Ditya got renovated or reconstructed the original excavated monumentwith some additions and converted this place into the important religiousshrine. No doubt that Raja Lalita Ditya had built Poonch city but at present,there is no such building existing on the ground of Lalita Ditya’s time exceptRamkund temple Mendhar. This is the only temple in this region which indi-cates the construction of Lalita Ditya in Poonch district.

Mr. Stein translated Rajtringani of Kalhan. Stein visited Poonch in 1892AD and identified number of places like Loharkote (Loran). Attalika (Atoli).Saramber (Chamber Kanari) Sawvernik (Surankote) mentioned in theRajtringani. But he could not identified Ram Kund Temple of RajaLalitaditaya’s time because this temple was located in a unknown place whichwas far away from the main route leading towards Kashmir in those days. Allthe habitants of this area were non-Hindus. Even most of the Hindus knewvery little about this shrine in the past. Therefore, they could not talk aboutthis temple to Stein indicated that this temple can be located in the Southernside of Kashmir.

The other proof is that the Devdasis reported to Raja Lalitaditya that theybelonged to a nearby village known as Sover Dehmana at that time. This vil-lage still exists near Narol (where temple exists) and known as Dharanainstead of Dehmana. Therefore, on the facts given above, it is clear thatRamkund is the same temple which was excavated and reconstructed by RajaLalitaditya in 8th Century.

Mela Ramkund Mendhar

Mudassir Ahmed MallaUdaan program helped me gain the knowledgerequired to work in a professional environment.The way the total program is built, makes thelearning very interesting. Faculty comes with adeep professional exposure in their fields hencemaking the classroom discussion much more informative andpractical. You will learn how to present ideas publicly in front ofyour class and leading companies; work in teams to completeassignments; work to deadlines and organize your time; debateand learn off each other. I truly feel that the skills covered in thepapers have been invaluable in reaching this career goal.

Udaan students during a training session.

The Ramkund Shrine Mendhar.

Mudasir Javed The day I started my professional training withKPMG in India, I didn't know what was going tohappen. It was all new and strange, but I wasexcited to have started my training with a reput-ed organisation. During the training, I learned alot, like how and what to expect in a corporate , how to crackinterviews and countless other things. I enjoyed new experiencesand leaned to be creative. Training provided me a stage whereI was able to show my talent. This improved my skills and helpedme in clearing the KPMG interview. I am thankful to NSDC,KPMG’s team working on Udaan and Government of India for thisinitiative.

Sawan Sharma Udaan provided me a good platform to be a part ofthis leading Pharmaceutical firm, dealing withclients like World Bank, UNDP, DFIT, Niti Ayog, Billsand Melinda Gates Foundation, NSDC and manymore. I underwent through classroom trainingwhere I gathered a good knowledge of pharmaindustry and many more terms in the same. I even attended theclasses for soft skills under which I learned a lot of things thatchanged my personality as a whole from a student to a well versedcorporate personality.

Aditya GuptaA year back, I was an unemployed fresher who washunting for a job in the technical industry after Ihad completed my s B Tech in Electronics & Com-munication. Udaan was an extraordinary opportu-nity for me, as I got selected by TNS as a traineeand undergone a 3- month rigorous training on the new telecomtechnology. With the support of Udaan program and corporatepartner, I am working with TNS, Reliance 4G Project at Shimla.

Pankaj ChoudharyOne suggestion I would like to give to the imple-menting partners of the project is to focus moreon the candidate placements, which is also theneed of the hour for people in Jammu and Kash-mir. When the candidates will know that they willget placed in private sector at reasonable salaries, it will definite-ly be a booster and a source of motivation for them. I’d say thatone must not leave this brilliant opportunity, and must fully availthe benefits provided by the Udaan.

Sheeba Raina As a student of B Tech in CSE, it was cumber-some to demonstrate my skills, particularly beingfrom J&K, where there is no avenue to search fora job and inculcate the habit of confidence.NSDC, through its Udaan programme, gave mean opportunity to explore my potential. After joining the trainingprogram with Accenture in Delhi, I realized that what one needsis a right chance and a right decision. It has helped me under-stand the corporate structure, honed my interpersonal skills,speak the corporate language with confidence and taught me thetrue definition of independence. The experience of working as aprofessional with Accenture proved to be an excellent platformfor me to explore my strengths and conquer my weaknesses. Thejourney so far has been a great exploration, filled with learning,discovering new places, interacting with new people and gettingfamiliar with the corporate environment.

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