Sherab Lhamo

Samdrupjongkhar – In an attempt to improve income and resilience in rural places, the village skill development programme (VSDP) was implemented in Samdrupjongkhar. 

The one-year initiative that ends this month is expected to help create opportunities and promote and strengthen different enterprises, industries, and entrepreneurships, which, in turn will help support the local economy. 

The participants were trained in hairdressing, A/C repair and maintenance, basic tailoring skills, and entrepreneurship in Bangtar, Samdrupjongkhar town, Orong, and Gomdar. 

Participants in the basic entrepreneurship training were given hands-on exercises, case studies, and mentorship which covered aspects such as business ideation, market research, business plan creation, financial management, among others. 

Kuenzang Choden, who took a six-months course both basic and upskilling has successfully established her own tailoring business with the support from the dzongkhag administration.

The dzongkhag provided support to trainees looking to start their own business after the training. 

The trainees were chosen through the online application process using Google Forms. 

The dzongkhag has trained 95 people—62 women and 33 males. 

According to an official from the dzongkhag administration, the programmes were put in place after identifying training needs in each gewog after the discussion with the local government leaders and agencies. 

The dzongkhag aims to organise future training with focus on upskilling the participants in jobs that are demanded in the market. 

The programme was conducted by the dzongkhag administration in collaboration with the Department of Workforce Planning and Skills Development.