Invigorating the Local Community

Sri Sri University is establishing the Center for Excellence in Vocational Training. This vocational school will help empower the community in Orissa by offering education in professions needed to build and maintain the University. Several trades will be offered, such as welding, plumbing, hospitality, air-conditioning, and retail.

Specifically, in Naraj, the University will stimulate the community’s economy and significantly add to the social environment. It has been well demonstrated in various contexts that new academic institutions bring a gradual improvement in the condition of local socio-cultural infrastructure and commerce. Sri Sri University will enroll thousands of men and women with first rate qualifications, varied backgrounds, and diverse life experiences; demand for goods and services will increase quickly in Naraj from Bhubaneswar, and suppliers, from small businesses to international franchises – will continue to grow.

Across Orissa, the University will have similar positive effects. Pooled data from census studies around the world demonstrate the significant positive effect of state level universities on geographic regions, particularly in terms of growth in state employment, state population, and in the state’s aggregate personal income.

Job skills for village youth

A three-month course in cell phone repair started on the SSU campus in September 2010. Twenty-five youth were enrolled in the course, which is the first of many planned courses to enhance the skills of unemployed and poor youth in villages surrounding the SSU campus.

Project Vidya

In collaboration with Larsen and Toubro, thirty-five Students underwent 3 months training in masonry, bar bending and advanced techniques in machinery.