The Karnataka Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports inked a letter of understanding (LoU) on December 10 with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as part of the state-level initiative "Code-Unnati".
The LoU was signed in the presence of Karnataka's higher education, IT, BT and skill development minister C. N. Ashwath Narayan.
The state-level initiative aims to improve entrepreneurship and employment opportunities among the youth and will involve the United Nations Volunteers (UNV).
Supported by SAP India lab's CSR strategies, the initiative will be implemented in four districts of Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Dakshina Kannada, and Raichuru.
Fifty colleges, including government pre-university, ITIs, polytechnics and Arts & Science colleges, have already been identified to work with the faculty members and student communities in areas of Training and Capacity Building, Training in the 21st Century & Digital Skills, Entrepreneurship Development, Innovation Challenges, Boot Camps, Corporate Volunteering and Industry Connect.
Entrepreneurship development would allow the training of 3,000 students to spread awareness on entrepreneurship as well as to gauge the interest and potential of students in setting up enterprises. Innovation challenges and boot camps would enable students to present their business plans to a panel of experts, while Corporate Volunteering would focus on engagement with the UNV programme in India.
Industry Connect would include visits to industries to understand actual processes, skills being used, skill gaps, business models, providing internship and apprenticeship opportunities, and conducting guest lecturing in colleges by industry experts.