Delhi-based philanthropist develops skill centre for underprivileged youth

Padma Shri Vikramjit Singh Sahney has set up World Class Skill Centre at ITI, Jail Road to help the underprivileged find employment.

“I learnt the meaning of service from the Sikh guru, Guru Nanak Dev ji. Kirat Karo Naam Japo, Wand Chhako (work hard, worship God and share your gains with the poor). And this is the philosophy of my life,” says Padma Shri Vikramjit Singh Sahney. A resident of Delhi, a social worker and a philanthropist, Sahney has set up World Class Skill Centre at ITI, Jail Road to help the underprivileged find employment.

The skill centre will impart free training in job-oriented courses, to the underprivileged youngsters in Delhi-NCR.

“The main focus of this centre is to impart free and full time training to the youth, for various courses such as in fashion design, interior design, refrigeration repairs, solar panel installation, and various other advanced IT courses that will help them get placement in the industry. The long term goal is to empower the underprivileged youth of Delhi-NCR by letting them acquire these skills that will help them earn a livelihood,” says Sahney, chairman of the NGO Sun Foundation.

Padma Shri Vikramjit Singh Sahney, says, “I devote equal time to materialistic and altruistic pursuits.”

Courses for personality development, digital literacy and spoken English will also be rolled out at this newly developed centre. And Sahney says that it’s the support of his family that has enabled him to accomplish all this. “My wife Daisy Sahney, and children Aman (son) and Damandeep (daughter) have been gracious in lending me their support to fulfil this dream,” says Sahney, who maintains a fine balance between his entrepreneurial duties and philanthropic endeavours. “I devote equal time to office work and social activities. Since I received the prestigious Padma Shri award in 2008, I’ve multiplied my philanthropic activities and embarked upon various programmes as I feel all the more responsible to give back to the society,” says Sahney, whose NGO has donated two AI equipped mobile corona testing buses and ambulances to the Government of Punjab and Delhi, to support the fight against Covid-19.

Sahney, whose foundation has been running 50 skill centres over the past 10 years in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi-NCR, says the recently established centre was developed specifically for those underprivileged who are victims of 1984 riots, the Afghan refugees and the BPL families. He says, “Many migrant labourers and a lot of other people lost their jobs during the pandemic, and I thought that such job-oriented courses were the need of the hour. We therefore ran a massive awareness campaign in west Delhi and slums nearby the area to enrol the students for the centre, and we’ve already gathered about 200 students for the first batch.”

Author tweets @FizzyBuddha

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