FUEL

Venkatswamy, an auto driver from Chennai was finding it exceedingly difficult to meet the ends of his family of five, where he was the sole bread earner of the family. The situation worsened as the pandemic struck. Worried over the looming uncertainty and as the lockdown kept extending from a few days to a few months, he was contemplating selling his auto, the lone source of his earnings, to make available the necessities for his family. Just then his daughter Vidya (Name changed) came running towards him with a gleam in her eyes and a spring in her step and proclaimed to Venkatswamy that he need not be anxious anymore about the situation as she had been selected by a company for employment for her skills in artificial intelligence (AI), the training for which was provided by FUEL (Friends Union for Energising Lives) organisation. The news brought tears in the eyes of Venkatswamy. He was overwhelmed with happiness and was also proud of his daughter. Unlike other days of gloom at home, that evening supper was filled with light-hearted conversation and chirpiness.

Like Vidya, many underprivileged student candidates have been able to support their families as they got trained and placed by FUEL at various industries and corporates. Streamlining their training modules with the current requirements of the Industry 4.0, FUEL has been training students in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain technology, digital marketing, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), and many more industry-relevant activities.

FUEL was started by Ketan Deshpande at the age of 19 as a student activism project in the year 2007. Coming from small-town Bhusawal, Maharashtra, he had faced challenges and missed applying to various entrance exams. He was uninformed regarding various entrance exams to be taken after grade 12 as they had either missed the exams, inappropriately filled the exam forms or were unaware about education avenues altogether. Getting motivated by this, Ketan was spurred to take action. He compiled the information of major entrance exams and education opportunities after grade 12 and published it as a book Students FUEL. The book was widely appreciated. However, the spirit of the social entrepreneur in him wanted to do something further.

He observed that most of the entrance exams had their guidelines released during the peak time from November to February when most students are busy preparing for board exams. Hence, they missed out on this crucial information. Taking this into consideration, Ketan, along with his friends, started conducting sessions for class 12 students, giving them complete guidance on all educational opportunities, with timelines of exams, details of documents required, and exams paper patterns along with guidance on how to fill up forms, etc.

In this way, FUEL found its inception. Friends Union for Energising Lives stems from the understanding that the youth in India form one of the most vulnerable groups, who on the one hand are expected to be the leaders to determine the destiny of India, and on the other lack essential information and opportunities to succeed in life.

Despite the initial success, there were teething troubles. Some partners even deserted but Ketan held on to his dream and started looking at ways and means to amplify his efforts and the results as well. Things were getting tougher by the day as the finances were depleting and the sector was not commercial. He had to attend to the responsibilities relating to his family as well. But as they say 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going.'

Ketan kept applying for various funding opportunities, but none seemed to click. The breakthrough came when TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) had a social entrepreneurship pitching competition. The judge at this competition was the founding President and entrepreneur, Santosh Huralikoppi. Santosh saw the spark in Ketan and the passion in his voice for his social venture. Ketan was adjudged as the winner of the competition. After an interaction subsequently with Ketan, he agreed to mentor Ketan and his start-up. Thereafter there was no looking back.

During the past 13 years, FUEL has been able to reach various milestones with regards to education and skill development across India and even beyond. With the initial support from brilliant and dynamic officers like Anil Sahasrbudhe, Chairman, AICTE and Ashwini Bhide, the then Secretary, School Education, Maharashtra, FUEL has directly impacted more than about 1.1 million youth through their programmes in coaching, skill development, scholarships and so on. It has spread its activities in more than 13 states in India, covering more than 7,000 educational institutes. These include about 140 Army Public Schools, wherein they have coached the wards of army soldiers (I came to know of their exemplary work when I attended one such programme in my capacity as Secretary, School Education Government in 2017). Over 45,000 youth have been skilled. More than 75 per cent of these have secured placement. As many as 350 such young entrepreneurs have become job-creators. A large number of girl students have also benefitted out of FUEL's efforts.

In a fast-changing environment and skilling scenario, FUEL is gearing up for adapting to this change by setting up Future Skill Centres wherein over 1,500 youth will be equipped with future skills such as AI, IoT, social media & 3D printing.

India is struggling with a huge challenge on account of the gap between the neediest and underprivileged youth on the one hand and citizens and the Government/ corporates offering citizens' support and services on the other. Bridging this information and accessibility gap can be the best solution any social enterprise can offer to the youth. A small but significant step is being taken to bridge this gap by FUEL social enterprise under the visionary leadership of Ketan Deshpande and mentorship of Santosh Huralikoppi.

FUEL was felicitated by Hon'ble Prime Minister of India as 'Champions of Change' in 2017. The team has also got appreciation from the President of India for working towards United Nation Sustainable Development Goals. It represented the country at the global hackathon at World Bank, Washington DC.

FUEL is truly fuelling the dreams of Indian youth and is striving to close the skill and education gap. It presents an excellent example of Nexus of Good by not only demonstrating that good work can be done but also that it can be scaled through public-private partnerships.

Views expressed are personal