While taking the best interests of wildlife into consideration before taking any step, Pench Tiger Reserve also keeps the welfare of the people living in the buffer zones around the forests in mind. Lately, the Reserve authorities are trying utmost to provide job opportunities in different fields to the youth of these areas.
To increase their chances of getting employed, a Hospitality Management course is being conducted at Sillari in collaboration with the help of MP Tiger Foundation Society. Eleven students have been selected for this course and after two and a half month training, they will be provided with job opportunities by the tiger reserve.
Indian Masterminds interacted with IFS officer Rajnish Kumar Singh, Deputy Director, Pench Tiger Reserve, to know more about this noble initiative.
HOW IT STARTED
Pench Tiger Reserve covers 107 villages, with a population of seventy thousand. So the youth of 107 villages will now get jobs with the help of the forest officials. Mr. Singh said that their ultimate goal is tiger conservation, but without community support, this is not possible. So, to get the support of the community, they have to take them along and do something good for them. That is why the forest department takes many initiatives for the welfare of the people living inside and around the forests.
Mr. Singh said, “Working as a forest official since long, I realised that doing conventional things like conservation, habitat management etc., are all important in their own place. But the wild animalsdo not know their boundaries. They may disperse from the reserve area and go to the community area. This creates man-animal conflict and it is detrimental to both. So, when we worked on how to mitigate this conflict and how to connect people with wildlife, this initiative came to the fore and it is now doing a fabulous job.”
The job initiative has created goodwill for the forest department in the villages. Now even those youths who are not highly educated can get jobs through this initiative, and that too in a forest area where, otherwise, jobs are hard to come by.
TIED UP WITH L&T CEMENT
Before beginning this initiative, the forest officials went from village to village, held meetings with the youths and asked them their preferences and requirements. After getting to know what they really wanted, the forest department gave final touches to their plan.
“We tied up with L&T Cement in the construction field. They agreed to provide free training at two places to start off, by using their CSR funds, and also offer jobs at their own construction sites, with a salary of Rs 10 to 15 thousand per month,” Mr. Singh said.
DRIVING AND PARLOUR TRAINING
As some of the youths liked driving, they also tied up with Ashok Leyland. The company agreed to give them driving training in their area Chhindwara itself. After training, these youths joined the driving field. “Similarly, some boys and girls were interested in opening salon and beauty parlour, so we made arrangements for them to get the requisite training. Some children wanted to prepare for government jobs. For them, we started coaching, where they can study for free,” Mr. Singh said.
For the youths who are preparing for forest guard and police constable exams, they have two coaching centres already running, while another one is about to start. Around 40 children are studying in the centres. Apart from this, they also run a sewing centre, where so far 150 girls have already undergone training and are now earning by stitching clothes in their villages.
HOSPITALITY COURSE
Another important step forward was the introduction of the hospitality course. Mr. Singh said, “We got this idea after seeing the boom in the tourism sector. As more hotelsand resorts start opening, they will need skilled employees, who know this sector well. So we decided to train the local youth in hospitality, so that they find easy employment.”
So far, 11 youths have been selected for the Hospitality Management course. Their training will last for almost two and half months. After that, they will be provided placement in the hospitality sector. This course is being managed with funds from local eco development committees and the MP Tiger Foundation.
SOURCING RESOURCES
Every initiative needs funds to continue,but, Pench Tiger Reserve is offering all the courses for free. Explaining how they are managing it, Mr. Singh said, “Sometimes, we invest money from our forest schemes. Sometimes, a donor helps us, or we get support from NGOs. In many places, we provide our own logistic and infrastructure support to them. At some places, we arrange for a separate building, where training or coaching can take place.”
He hopes that when these youths find employment after completing their training, they will become role models for other children in their villages. Those children would then want to follow in their footsteps, thereby uplifting themselves, their families, and their villages, creating a cycle of hope. Hope for a better life.
