About us
About SVRCC
Swami Vivekananda Rural Community College (SVRCC), located in the village of Keezhputhupattu near Puducherry, has been transforming lives and empowering youth through top quality skill training since 2008. The College was established under the Sadguru Sri Gnanananda Seva Trust, registered as a Public Charitable Trust under the Indian Trusts Act and under Section 10(23C) of the Indian Income Tax Act. The Trust is also registered under the Foreign Contributions Regulations Act (FCRA).
The Objective
It is the objective of the College to provide high quality vocational training in employable trades to boys and girls above the age of 16, from underprivileged families in and around Puducherry.
The education is offered at subsidised fees because we believe the value of anything given free is notappreciated. The yearlong courses comprise 9 months of concept teaching and 3 months of internship in industry, besides compulsory coaching in life-coping, communication, yoga and meditation. The sound grounding in ethics and values, and focus on personality development are unique features of the tutelage at SVRCC.
Message from the Founder
Swami Vivekananda Rural Community College (SVRCC) is meant for the uplift of youth from poor and downtrodden families. We function for the benefit of students who have been compelled to drop out of schooling at various stages, and are in dire need of guidance on career options and concrete steps to reshape their lives. We have before us a huge contingent of youth who are disgruntled, directionless and desperate, their behaviour ranging from shyness to rebellion.These are the youth who may become an easy prey to anti-national elements who will mislead them for their selfish ends.
- G V Subrahmanian
Founder, Swami Vivekananda Rural Community College
Vision
SVRCC is inspired by Swami Vivekananda’s words: “My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation, and out of them will come my workers. They will work out the whole problem, like lions.”
SVRCC seeks to excel as a trusted community-driven educational institution to empower India’s phenomenal young adult population.
To transform the lives of underprivileged youth in local communities through the provision of high-quality holistic education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, intellect is expanded, and the young minds are awakened to their infinite potential.
- Character is formed
- Strength of mind is increased
- Intellect is expanded
- Independence and self-confidence inculcated/increased
Mission
To impart career-oriented, ethical, value based, quality education that offers high technical standards, conceptual clarity, and a practical approach at an affordable cost.
Our mission to educate and empower our students is reflected in our pedagogy, where we aim
- To impart a career-oriented, affordable education that offers high technical standards, conceptual clarity and a practical approach
- To complement education with a firm grounding in ethics, values and life skills
- To ensure that education is relevant to the needs of local communities
- To scale and replicate training per international standards and gain repute as a world-class institution
- To grow organically and become, in the foreseeable future, a recognized University of international standards, for providing skills training in a large number of disciplines
Our Values
Our approach to skill building is strongly ingrained in the values that SVRCC espouses –
- Respect for self and for the student
- Innovation and creativity
- Dynamism and continual improvement
- Empowerment of all stakeholders
- Transparency & accountability
- Sustainability & scalability
Motivation and Objective
The Trust has identified three distinct aspects of India’s growth that would be positively impacted by effective and focused Community Education:
- Community Education will be a prodigious source of employable young people – a resource that is critical to the ambitious economic program of our nation.
- Community Education will enable distribution of the benefits of economic development across the whole population of India.
- Community Education will help villages and small towns grow technologically and create sufficient job opportunities in the districts, rather than compelling people to migrate to metros and cities.
SVRCC provides quality education that is aligned with employment opportunities. Besides entrepreneurial mindset is sought to be promoted among the more enterprising youth. Both these will be essential for the achievement of the 'Economic Superpower' status targeted by India.
SVRCC combines the conceptual, practical and ethical dimensions of education – all of which are essential for a well-rounded human being. It has a massive young population waiting to be served, and an arsenal of expert teachers from Puducherry.
The Trust aims to educate and place at least 3,000 young men and women in the next 5 years. In seven years the College has rejuvenated 750 families in the neighbourhood and infused new hope in the youth whose prospects appeared bleak. As each family’s fortunes are revived the multiplier effect is immense and we can see economy prospering at all levels – not just the big cities and towns.
Administration & Governance
The Trust Board of SVRCC ensures the participation of all its members with college administrators, representatives of the faculty, industrial partners, community leaders, parents and consultants. Three Committees ensure that the college functions professionally and smoothly:
- Academic Committee
- Finance, Accounts & Audit Committee
- Administration & Governance Committee
Committees hold quarterly meetings, while the Trust Board meets at least six times a year. Governance and transparency are valued at SCRCC; agendas and meeting minutes are actively maintained, reviewed, and circulated; annual accounts are audited by a professional firm, and tax returns duly filed.
Administrative Structure of SVRCC
- Trust Board of 13 members and 1 advisor headed by a Managing Trustee
- Principal
- Manager – Planning & Development
- Manager - Operations
- Program Coordinators (HODs)
- Life-skills Faculty, Work-skills Faculty, Placement Officers and Support Staff
Targets
- Increase the enrolment of the college to full capacity.
- Use the college’s steady-state model of education and target:
- Training in relevant courses with employment potential.
- An annual intake and graduation of 700 students who will be capable of launching successful careers in service or entrepreneurship
- Education in short-term niche continuous education courses that boost career prospects and self-confidence
- Reach out to the local population, especially women and children, with training programs attuned to their needs
- Identify and collaborate with ideological partners, like-minded people, and institutions like ICRDCE and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)
- Replicate the SVRCC model and build colleges with similar content, culture, and objectives of aptitude, attitude, character, and employability
Let's bring things to life
The college has taken strident steps since inception of the Trust in 2006. This section gives our readers a glimpse into the many activities over the last decade that helped establish the current status of the college.
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Registration of the Trust
Sadguru Sri Gnanananda Seva Trust established in October 2006, as a not-for-profit, secular Public Charitable Trust, registered under Section 12AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Donations to the College are eligible for tax deduction under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act 1961.
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Setting up of SVRCC
Swami Vivekananda Rural Community College (SVRCC) is started via a foundational stone-laying ceremony (bhoomi pooja) officiated by Swami Dayananda Saraswati in January 2007.
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Welcoming the first batch of students
The College, based out of Kanaga Chetty Kulam in Puducherry welcomed its first batch of 70 students in July 2008 and the courses were accredited by the Tami Nadu Open University (TNOU) in August 2008.
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Throwing Doors open to International Recognition
An international delegation from Papua New Guinea visited the College for an exposure visit.
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Infrastructure Construction
In 2010, the Phase 1 construction of the state-of-the-art college building was begun.
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Accredited to receive Foreign Funding
As of 2012, the Trust was registered under Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA), making it eligible to receive funding from foreign entities.
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New Building and New Partnerships
The College started building classrooms, laboratories and equipment with the support of industry veterans and local manufacturing companies.
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Establishment of Swami Vivekananda Industrial School
SVRCC was approved as an Industrial School by the Department of Employment & Training, Government of TamilNadu to offer Skill Council for Vocational Training (SCVT) certification in 4 technical streams namely Computer Software and Hardware Maintenance, Automobile Mechanic, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Mechanism & Maintenance and Electrical Technician.
Transparency
In 2016 the Trust Board had engaged the services of the Centre for Social Initiative and Management (CSIM), to conduct a social audit of SVRCC’s work to understand the extent to which the college had built social capital. The benefit/cost analysis showed that for every Re 1 spent by SVRCC, the economic return to society was Rs3.73.