Women Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Program Rural Call Center

Establish and manage “Rural Call centre (Inbound and Outbound)” to reach out to 100,000 women in the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar and Rajasthan and support 30,000 women via 1 hour of counselling / handholding / information /referral

NASSCOM Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental, non-religious organization established under Indian Trust Act in India. NASSCOM Foundation is a voluntary organization focused on improving the quality of life of individuals by imparting Education and Information Technology (IT) & Computer related skills development and training among women and youth.

NASSCOM Foundation invites a proposal for IT Skilling and Employability Enhancement Program, aiming to empower economic opportunities for young women engineering graduates.

The objective of this Program is to create greater employability opportunities for underprivileged women by skilling them in specific job-related skills within IT/ITES sector on various IT roles. The program can be delivered in a flexible training framework given the COVID situation through both blended and virtual modes:

An Overview

Asia and the Pacific is considered the “engine of global growth”, as it is home to six of the world’s top ten fastest growing economies. Yet, this growth is hampered by inequalities across the Asia-Pacific region, in particular gender inequalities. Hindrances, whether structural or social, limit women’s economic participation, denying communities and countries of greater socioeconomic growth that is of benefit to all elements of society. Entrepreneurship is a key means of redressing this inequality and the associated impediments to equitable, inclusive and sustainable development.

In the national economies of Asia and the Pacific, entrepreneurs are critical drivers of growth through innovation and job creation. Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) employ between 60 to 80% of the national workforces in more than ten countries in Asia and the Pacific, including China, Japan, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan. According to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, small and medium enterprises account for 90 percent of businesses and over 60 percent of employment in countries of the Pacific Rim.

Between 2000 and 2009, MSMEs in East Asia and the Pacific grew by eight percent, which is two per cent above the global average. Women entrepreneurs have been critical contributors to the economic growth. The many forms of structural and social barriers to their economic engagement that women encounter in the form of access to credit to opportunities to acquire skills need to be addressed in order to realize the potential contribution of women to the equitable and inclusive growth of their societies.

About the Project

NF is working towards implementing a project through implementing partners in 6 selected states in India to improve digital literacy, financial literacy and entrepreneurship skill development of women farmers by using on/offline medium. The aim of the project is to reach out 100,000 women out of which 30,000 women will be supported with functional enterprise skills through a cascaded model of training, mentoring and support. The program aims to empower the rural women with digital skills, financial skills and entrepreneurship skills training resulting in increased income and economic independence.

Invitation for Proposal

We are executing a Women Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Program in the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar and Rajasthan to train and empower women farmers with digital, financial and entrepreneurship skills and as an outreach component of this program, we are looking at a rural based call centre with below mentioned,

• Local Know How/Eco System
• Passion for Communities
• Experience in counselling entrepreneurs from rural parts of India.
• Financial Sustainability
• Standards AdherenceWith help of the rural call centre, we are looking at:
• Upskilling existing rural based women entrepreneurs
• Support women entrepreneurs in creating job opportunities locally
• Create economic independence through meaningful employment
• Help curb migration of beneficiaries to bigger cities by employing them locallyInterested Organization are invited to submit their proposals for the assignment, which must include the following, as detailed subsequently in this document.

1. Call centre details
2. Proposal with Implementation Plan
3. Financial Proposal
4. Monitoring and MIS tools and framework

RFP Submission Schedule & Timeline

The following table is an overview of the selection activities and timeline.

Details of RFP

* All interventions will be focus in the ‘Program Locations’ namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, & Himachal Pradesh

Tentative Locations for Program Reach Out

* NOTE: Program Locations under the mentioned states and no. of beneficiaries at locations may vary.

Deliverables & Timelines