ETASHA Society

ETASHA Society

ETASHA Society is a New Delhi based non-profit founded in 2006 by Dr. Meenakshi Nayar. It works with adolescents, youth and women from low-income communities to help them reach economic independence through counselling, skilling and links to resources. Its stated vision is an India where all citizens achieve sustainable economic independence.

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The organisation describes its training method as participative, interactive and experiential, and it focuses on the mindset and confidence people need for modern workplaces as well as job skills. It also works with whole communities to change attitudes towards skills and dignified work. Training runs through Career Development Centres in Delhi and Haryana, with entrepreneurship work extending to rural Rajasthan.

Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India

Major Areas of Work

• Youth employability and placement: Job-linked vocational training and soft skills for young people from low-income communities, followed by placement in organised-sector jobs.

• Women's entrepreneurship: Life skills, technical skills and business management training that helps women set up and run their own enterprises, alone or in groups.

• Adolescent education and counselling: Life skills workshops, counselling, remedial learning and computer skills for school students from low-income neighbourhoods.

• Career guidance: Aptitude-based workshops that help high school students choose suitable professions.

• Community mobilisation: Outreach that builds community awareness of and engagement with livelihood opportunities.

Major Initiatives and Programmes

• B-SMART: An 8 to 10 week blended online and offline course covering selling, customer service, spoken English, computers and interview skills, aimed at customer-service jobs in the service sector.

• CATT: A 12 week course in computerised accounting on Tally, basic taxation and employability skills for youth who have passed Class 12 in the Commerce stream.

• Employability Skills Development and Placement (ESDP): Soft skills and job-linked core skills, followed by placement, for students of government ITIs, World Class Skill Centres and Polytechnics in manufacturing and services trades.

• Women Entrepreneurship Program: Training for stay-at-home women, including those who are illiterate or semi-literate, to start self-owned enterprises, delivered through projects such as Mazbooti in South Delhi and Udyogini in rural Rajasthan, with zero-interest seed money under Mazbooti.

• Life Skills Development and Counselling: Life skills workshops and one-to-one counselling on stress, anxiety, anger and career decisions for students of Classes 8 to 12, supported by the free Keh Daalo helpline for adolescents.

The vocational training programmes, which also include courses in banking and financial services, digital marketing and desktop publishing, form the core of the youth work. ETASHA states that all completers are meant to be placed in organised-sector jobs and that its placement rate is typically 75 to 80%. Support continues after placement through alumni meets, newsletters and individual counselling.

Impact

ETASHA states that it has given more than 80,000 adolescents remedial education, life skills, computer training and career guidance, trained more than 25,000 young adults in vocational and employability skills, helped more than 9,000 women and youth set up their own enterprises, and engaged more than 273,000 community members on livelihood opportunities. Its own site also cites 333 schools reached and 18,155+ youth through placement-linked training. It maintains partnerships with British Asian Trust, BT Group, SMS Group, AU Small Finance Bank, HDB Financial Services, Fluor India, Nippon Paint, Telus and Rotary Club of South Delhi.

Leadership

• Dr. Meenakshi Nayar, Founder President

• Col. Sanjay Gangwar, Executive Director

• Parul Mehra, Chief - Projects & Corporate Affairs

• Mini Bhargava, Chief - Collaborations & MIS

ETASHA suits people who want hands-on work in skilling, livelihoods and youth development, with direct contact with trainees, women entrepreneurs, schools and employers. Staff see the full path from training and counselling to job placement or a running enterprise, across urban settlements in Delhi and rural sites in Haryana and Rajasthan. The mix of training, counselling, employer partnerships and CSR-funded projects gives broad exposure to how a mid-sized Indian NGO delivers livelihoods programmes. It is a good fit for trainers, counsellors, programme staff and partnership managers who care about measurable employment outcomes.