The Indo Swiss Centre of Excellence (ISCEP), a pioneering Indo-Swiss collaboration envisioned by the Malhotra Weikfield Foundation, represents a groundbreaking joint venture funded with over ₹50 crores from a consortium of Indian and Swiss corporations. Spearheaded by Mr. Mukesh Malhotra, Chairman of Weikfield Products Corporation LLP and Chief Functionary of ISCEP, this innovative initiative is dedicated to equipping young Indians with the skills essential for future careers, with a focus on agriculture, modern manufacturing technologies, and underwater domain studies.
In an exclusive interview with TheCSRUniverse, Mr. Mukesh Malhotra sheds light on ISCEP's mission to provide tomorrow's skills to today's youth. He delves into its successes in empowering rural youth, doubling small farmers' income, and addressing industry demands. Additionally, he sheds light on ISCEP's plans to expand its focus beyond its current domains, guided by an Advisory Board comprising senior industry executives. With a vision to cater to emerging needs and niche areas with high income potential, ISCEP is poised to further contribute to socio-economic development and youth empowerment in India.
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Q&A
Q. How do ISCEP's vocational training programs in agriculture and modern manufacturing aim to double the income of small farmers, and what specific techniques are being taught?
A. The CEA (Centre of Excellence for Agri Entrepreneurship) facility is fully equipped with classrooms, a computer room, a library and offices for faculty members, a 2-acre Model Farm with Polyhouse and Greenhouses.
Currently, CEA offers 2 types of courses:
1. Agri Technical Assistant (ATA) for those who are interested in getting employment in Agri and Allied Industries.
2. Agri Entrepreneur (AE)
Agri Technical Assistant (ATA): Out of approximately 1,800 candidates trained as ATA’s, ISCEP could facilitate placements of approximately 1,200 candidates in various agri and allied companies. The average salary offered to these candidates was approximately INR 20,000 per month. Some others either went in for higher education or family farming as they were not better equipped to do more scientific farming.
Agri Entrepreneurship Program: 86% of farmers in India are small and marginal farmers and their average annual household income is approximately INR 75,000. The AE program is an impact at scale initiative, which aims at increasing income of millions of smallholder farmers by provide last mile delivery of products/services, while providing meaningful livelihood opportunity to tens of thousands to unemployed rural youth.
These AEs are mentored by AE Mentor for a period of 2 years till she properly establishes her business.
These AEs provide last mile delivery of products & service to about 150 farmers in her village in addition to providing quality inputs at a lower cost, provides market linkages to get better price for farmers produce etc.
AEs also conduct farmer meetings, set up demo farms to showcase better agronomy practices to help farmers adopt those in their farms, which result in improved productivity. With all this support, these 150 farmers also increase their income by 15 to 20% YoY, thus doubling their income in about 5 years.
CEA is in the process of setting up a DGCA approved Drone Pilot Training Academy. The plan is to train drone pilots for spraying agrochemicals/fertilizers in line with Central Government’s focus on promotion of drone technology in agriculture. Fringe cost and eco-system benefits can be derived through drone spraying instead of manual spraying.
At CEA, we are also setting up a Hydroponics model to demonstrate and educate the farming community about modern farming techniques.
Q. How does ISCEP plan to address the lack of underwater domain knowledge in India, and what industries stand to benefit? What opportunities do you foresee for the youth in this specialized field
A. India’s land mass is 3.8 m sq kms; while its Exclusive Economic Zone in the ocean is 3.1 m sq. kms; but of which very little is known. The Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA) will allow effective management of the challenges and opportunities in the marine and the freshwater systems. The four broad stakeholders include (a) strategic security, (b) blue economy, (c) sustainability & climate change risk management and (d) science & technology. ISCEP has built structured skilling programs to make our youth employable with field experimental training for real world problem solving. The unique training includes management of the tropical waters, that the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) presents, and which the west driven programs are not able to address, as they are calibrated for temperate water and not equatorial water.
These skilled youth will be relevant to port management, freshwater management, fisheries, aquaculture, deep-sea mining, inland water transport, sonar designers & manufacturers, maritime forces, waterfront security agencies, oil & gas industry, oceanography research, shipping industry, climate change assessment agencies, environmental regulators and more.
Q. What insights can you provide into the curriculum and practical training for modern manufacturing technologies, and how does it align with industry demands?
A. The curriculum and practical training for modern manufacturing technologies at ISCEP are meticulously designed to align with industry demands, with a significant contribution from the Centre of Excellence in Manufacturing Technology (CEMT), operated by Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF).
Over the past 65 years, NTTF has grown into a leading institution, receiving technical support and knowledge transfer from Swiss industry and training institutions.
With NTTF, the students not only secure a Diploma, but also enjoy a multitude of added benefits that help them towards a bright career. These advantages include:
- Recognized NCVET Diploma (National Council for Vocational Education & Training), MSDE (Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship), Govt. of India.
- Simultaneous International Accreditation: Diploma from NOCN & NCC - UK & "Online Degree" from the University of Central Lancashire, UK.
- Excellent Job and Placement Opportunities including Government Organisations
- Opportunity for Lateral Entry into Engineering Colleges (both Private and Govt.) after NTTF Diploma.
- B. Eng (Hons) from Lincoln University, Malaysia after 3 years of work experience.
- Concurrent "B. Voc Degree" from Dayananda Sagar University & Arka Jain University.
- Network with 500+ Industries.
ISCEP / NTTF boasts a vast network of more than 500 companies that actively recruit our students. These companies span various sectors, including manufacturing, automation engineering, IT, automotive, and many more.
NTTF's rigorous and industry-aligned training programs ensure that our students are equipped with the latest knowledge and practical skills demanded by employers. We prioritize hands-on experience, enabling our students to hit the ground running from day one of their professional journeys.
High emphasis is given on practical training, industry partnerships and world class facilities have made ISCEP/NTTF a preferred choice for those seeking a rewarding career in technical fields.
The modern manufacturing techniques, hi-tech machineries have opened numerous better career opportunities for youngsters. Keeping this in mind ISCEP is operating with highly industry-focused long-term and short-term vocational Skill development programs. ISCEP is keen on spreading its wings as per the industry needs to provide highly skill-oriented Corporate Training Programs to the employees of industries to upgrade their skills to the skills of tomorrow.
ISCEP has Centre of Excellence for few of the Emerging technologies such as CNC Programming & Machining, 3D Printing, Industrial Automation (Mechatronics), Industry 4.0, IoT, Cybersecurity, among others.
Q. What innovative teaching methods or technologies are being incorporated into ISCEP's vocational training programs to ensure students are equipped with future skills?
A. The teaching methods include both theoretical and practical training derived from Swiss methods duly adapted to the Indian conditions. The subjects chosen are such that they pertain to Cutting-Edge futuristic technology like Mechatronics, Robotics, etc.
Q. In what ways does ISCEP ensure its vocational training initiatives remain relevant and adaptable to changing landscapes?
A. ISCEP has set up an Advisory Board comprising of senior industry executives who periodically look at the changes coming in their respective fields and advise ISCEP Management about preparing the Infrastructure and Curriculum for such emerging requirements.
Q. Can you elaborate on short-term up-skilling courses for factory workers in modern manufacturing, and how are these tailored to industry needs?
A. A small team led by ISCEP faculty is conducting a survey and meeting a large number of industries in person in order to understand the upskilling needs and requirements of the industry. Based on their study, suitable courses will be created and offered for this purpose.
A. As a not-for-profit organization, how does ISCEP contribute to the socio-economic development of youth, particularly in creating income opportunities, fostering innovation, and ensuring its own financial sustainability to support long-term program growth and impact?
A. All the skills imparted to the students who are inducted into the training programme at ISCEP are focused on creating job opportunities for them, especially high paying job opportunities; due to the futuristic skills being imparted.
The training operations are expected to generate modest surplus which will enable ISCEP to sustain itself and support long-term growth. Malhotra Weikfield Foundation (MWF) and several other companies are providing Scholarships for deserving candidates, especially from financially challenged backgrounds.
Q. How does ISCEP ensure inclusivity in its training programs to cater to diverse learning styles and accessibility needs?
A. ISCEP selection criteria are extremely broad and encourage inclusivity and no discrimination on the basis of creed or gender, etc. is mandated. In fact, both MWF and ISCEP encourages majority of female candidates, wherever possible.
Q. Are there plans to expand ISCEP's focus beyond agriculture, future manufacturing, and underwater domains? If so, how will these areas be identified and incorporated?
A. As earlier mentioned, the Advisory Board is mandated with the task of looking at the other future needs of the country so that ISCEP can plan to expand in such areas; especially niche areas with high income potential; but which are neglected by the mainstream educational institutions.
