Justrojgar Joins With Upaya Social Ventures to Create Service Sector Jobs for the Very Poorest

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

NEW DELHI, 20 NOVEMBER 2012 – Committed to skilling and securing employment for the millions of potential service industry workers currently living in ultra poverty, Delhi-based Justrojgar is proud to announce that it has secured an initial equity investment from Upaya Social Ventures. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This strategic partnership will afford Justrojgar the resources and expertise needed to connect those living in extreme poverty with an ever-expanding array of opportunities in the service sector,” said Ajaya Mohapatra, Managing Director of Techpeople, the parent company of Justrojgar. “Together we are working to ensure rojgar (jobs) for the poor in a way that is just and equitable for all,” said Mohapatra.

Justrojgar was designed as a social venture to bridge the demand-supply gap in the service industry by creating a comprehensive ecosystem to train job seekers and link them with potential employers. For corporate clients, service employees can fill roles such as janitors, security guards, and porters, while in a domestic setting these positions can include full- and part-time housekeepers, cooks, doormen, and caretakers. Through its partnership with Upaya, Justrojgar will build on its pilot National Capital Region operations to establish a national footprint for skilling and placing the manpower needed to fill the massive national labor market shortage for formalized service work.

By allowing a variety of corporate and domestic employers to confidently source capable and reliable employees, Justrojgar is making it possible for those living in the furthest depths of poverty to directly benefit from the country’s economic growth,” said Sachi Shenoy, Upaya’s Executive Director. “Upaya has been impressed by what the Justrojgar team has accomplished so far and sees great potential in this model,” she said.

The partnership coincides with the launch of www.justrojgar.com, India’s first-ever integrated online employment exchange for the service sector. The company envisions the website as a complement to its other efforts to recruit, train, place, and support service sector employees. Justrojgar is also fostering on-the-ground partnerships with the government, NGOs, corporates, industries, microfinance institutions and microfinance associations to fully realize the potential of its platform.

About JustrojgarJustrojgar is one of India’s first employment exchanges for the service sector, striving to create million jobs for the people at the base of the pyramid by 2020. Justrojgar provides scalable, sustainable and replicable solutions through a hybrid model of digital application integrated with on-the-ground partnerships with government, NGOs, corporates, industries, and microfinance institutions. Justrojgar provides a single window platform for manpower sourcing, skills training, placement and outsourcing besides ensuring social security and financial inclusion services to the ultrapoor. The venture started in 2010, and has so far trained and placed over 1500 un-educated and un-skilled youth including women living in slums and resettlement colonies of National Capital Region.

About Upaya – Upaya Social Ventures builds businesses that will create jobs and improve the quality of life for households living on less than $1.25 a day. Upaya’s flagship program, the Life-changing Interventions for the Ultra Poor (LiftUP) Project, is a 24-36 month accelerator program that provides early-stage entrepreneurs with technical assistance and financial resources to launch and scale their businesses in a way that creates dignified employment opportunities for the “ultra poor.” With a presence in both India and the U.S., the Upaya team has over 20 years of experience in developing effective interventions for the world’s poorest populations. For more information, please visit www.upayasv.com.

Source: Press Release (link opens in a new window)

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employment, poverty alleviation, social enterprise