It is rightly said that one should aim big to achieve big in life. When a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) in Tedesara gram panchayat of Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh kicked off in 2018, the plan was to create an infrastructure where 300 people can work. However, the project started slowly with two companies on board that managed to fill only 60 seats in 2018 and continued with just 20 seats in 2019. The operations in the unit were also shut down for a full year.
However, after IAS officer Taran Prakash Sinha stepped in as the new District Collector of Rajnandgaon in June 2021, he saw scope in the project which aimed at spreading employment in this tribal-dominated district. As Mr. Sinha joined the district during the Covid 19 spread, it became even more important for him to work on such a project.
A PPP MODEL
In the year 2020, an expression of interest (EOI) was floated under the District E-Governance Society, Rajnandgaon, where private partners were invited to support the administration in building a good future for their youth by providing jobs in Aarohan BPO. The interested companies made a presentation, and a contract was signed with Technotask Business Solutions. The company initially offered to fill in 110 seats in the BPO, which was completed in a months’ time.
Soon the seats started filling up and reached 400 by the end of June 2021. Around that time, IAS officer Taran Prakash Sinha was appointed as the DC of Rajnandgaon. He visited the BPO and saw an immense scope in the project and, hence, thought of scaling it up.
SCALING THE PROJECT
With an initial infrastructure of 300 seats, the BPO was scaled up as per the youth who were getting hired for the job. The BPO consisted of various training rooms etc. which were hence used for the infrastructure for adding more and more seats. As the numbers started increasing, the aim of the administration was to make a seating arrangement of at least 2000 employees, which will be one of the biggest such PPP projects in the country.
The number which stood at 400 in June 2021 has now reached 1100 till April 2022. Infrastructure facilities like state-of-the-art 1000 computerised production hall, high-speed internet system and 24 hours uninterrupted power facility, centralised CCTV camera and biometric attendance system for monitoring, furniture, seating arrangement, smart training room, fire accident protection system, canteen and parking facility have been provided. The furnished building is in a total area of 10,000 sq ft which is fully air conditioned.
Under project Aarohan BPO, it is also proposed to perform beneficiary-oriented works under various government departments. The target has been set to conduct BPO 24X7. In addition to the current working companies, a target has been set to get their work done in coordination with other reputed corporate organisations.
BENEFITS
By launching this project at such a big scale, several benefits are being provided to the people of the district. The youth are now getting an opportunity to work within the district and grow professionally. The tribal youth are also getting inclined towards it, especially during Covid time when people are struggling to get jobs.
Apart from this, the villagers of Tedesara gram panchayat are benefitting through the arrangement of accommodation for around 400 employees on rental basis in the villages. The project has also increased employment opportunities and improved the communication skills of the youth in the other adjoining districts as well. It has also increased accessible opportunities for and capacity development of local youth to work on multi-trained models.
