The Palamau Tiger Reserve has launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab at Ajeevika Kendra in Betla to provide rural youth with training in emerging technology, digital skills and entrepreneurship.
The first batch of the AI Builder Bootcamp began on Teachers’ Day under Hunar Se Rozgar 2.0, with 33 young people from different educational backgrounds enrolling in the six-week programme.
The participants include youth from remote villages in and around the Palamau Tiger Reserve landscape. The initiative is aimed at giving them access to skills that can improve their employment and entrepreneurial opportunities.
33 Rural Youth Join Six-Week Training Programme
The bootcamp will introduce participants to AI-based tools and applications along with practical digital skills. The curriculum includes content creation, digital marketing, problem-solving and other technology-based skills.
The programme also focuses on helping participants understand how these tools can be applied to real-world problems and local needs. Ethical use of technology and its application for community development are also part of the training.
The AI Lab is being positioned as a facility where young people from rural and forest-dependent communities can access technology and develop skills that are increasingly relevant to the job market.
According to the initiative, the facility is the first dedicated AI Lab in Jharkhand and the first AI Lab established within a tiger reserve in the country.
Training Linked With Community Service and Conservation
The programme has been introduced under the Jan-Van Bhagidari framework, through which the training is being provided to participants free of cost.
However, the programme also links skill development with community and environmental responsibilities. Each participant will plant five indigenous trees, undertake a community-service activity and share their learning with students by adopting an educational institution.
The idea is to encourage participants to use the skills acquired during the programme beyond the training centre and contribute to their communities.
The initiative also includes an entrepreneurship component. Startup Jharkhand will facilitate links between participants with promising ideas and startup incubators, innovation networks and potential funding opportunities.
Building on Hunar Se Rozgar Programme
The AI Builder Bootcamp builds on the earlier Hunar Se Rozgar programme, which has trained more than 600 rural youth.
With the new programme, the focus is being expanded from conventional skill development to technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The initiative is being led by Prajesh Jena, IFS, Deputy Director, Palamau Tiger Reserve (North).
By establishing the lab within the Palamau Tiger Reserve landscape, the programme seeks to give rural youth access to technology training without requiring them to move to urban centres for such opportunities.
The six-week programme will focus on building practical digital capabilities among participants while also encouraging them to explore employment, entrepreneurship and community-based applications of technology.
