Ministry of Tribal Affairs hosted a Webinar along with Facebook India for sensitization of Members of Parliament (MPs) from Scheduled Tribe (ST) Constituencies of India on “Going Online As Leaders (GOAL) Project.” The participants include Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Smt. Renuka Singh Saruta, many Members of Parliament and senior officers from M/o Tribal Affairs, MyGov, and Facebook India.
GOAL (Going Online as Leaders) is an initiative launched by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) in partnership with Facebook India to digitally skill and empower5000 youth from tribal communities to become leaders of tomorrow by leveraging the power of digital technology. The Project aims to identify and mobilize 2500 renowned people from industry (policymakers and influencers), teachers, artists, entrepreneurs, social workers, etc. known for their achievements in their domain areas, to mentor tribal youths across India personally. The initiative designed to allocate two mentees to a mentor.
The program targets to work in structured phases that includes: preparatory and design phase, selection of mentors and mentees, execution that includes mentoring, training, internships, and follow-up youth economic and leadership activities. The program also seeks to provide handholding support to the youth even after they graduate out for upcoming jobs or self-employment / entrepreneurial initiatives through government schemes. The program seeks to have a strong component of quality assurance, monitoring, concurrent evaluation protocols and uses analytics and technology for continuous improvement, decision making, and sustainability.
It is targeted to have a 1:2 ratio of mentors and mentees. Each engagement with a mentee will be of nine months or 36 weeks:
Month 1 to Month 7 (28 weeks): Mentees from tribal communities will be connected to mentors.
Month 8 and Month 9 (8 weeks): Shortlisted mentees will get internship opportunities in reputed organizations.
Applicants for Mentee and Mentor can register on the portal goal.tribal.gov.in by providing basic information about themselves.
No financial remuneration provided to any mentor or mentee. The interested tribal youth, can write to facebook-goal@tribal.gov.in if they have any queries related to the GOAL program or through the ‘Contact Us' section on the GOAL portal.
Youth from tribal communities between 18-35 years of age can apply to become mentees. It is open for all youth from tribal communities irrespective of whether they are part of any educational institute or not or in any profession or even undertaking any training.
Experts in business, education, health, politics, arts, and entrepreneurship can inspire, guide, and encourage the tribal youth to become village-level digital young leaders for their communities can apply to become a mentor. The program requires a time commitment from the mentor for the whole program duration. The mentor doesn't need to be from tribal or ST background as a condition to apply.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs has partnered with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to leverage a strong network of its Common Service Centres (CSCs).
Youths from tribal communities can visit their nearest CSC to apply under this program. Once tribal youth is selected in program, they will be provided smartphones with internet access for one year. The Project will be delivered digitally using video-based mechanisms such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Mentors and mentees will interact through these apps, and all material will be provided in digital format only.
Mentees will get following benefits: Smartphone with one-year internet access; Joint certificate of participation by MoTA and Facebook; Letter of recognition by Mentor; Opportunity to intern in a reputed private / government organization; Strong visibility and recognition at local/ state/ national level; Opportunity to interact with industry leaders; and Priority access to Facebook and M/o Tribal Affairs events at State/ National level.
Mentees will gain the following recognition under this programme:
- Joint Certificate of participation by MoTA and Facebook
- Opportunity to interact with like-minded peer group including industry professionals, influencers, etc.
- Priority access to state-level events organized by MoTA or Facebook
- Profile will be showcased on Portal as Mentor; and
- Opportunity to meet business and political leaders.
Speaking at the Webinar, Shri Arjun Munda said that “Going Online As Leaders (GOAL) is a digital skilling and mentorship initiative. It will engage renowned leaders and experts in their respective domains—from business, education, health, politics, arts, and entrepreneurship, among others, to personally mentor scheduled tribe youths across India through digital mechanisms. This program will empower and enable scheduled tribe youths to become change-makers of tomorrow.
The initiative primarily targets at capacity building of youths living in tribal areas, which will inspire, guide, and encourage them to boost their confidence level and ignite higher aspirations among them. The acquired skills and abilities will help them gain leadership skills, identify problems in their society, find solutions to fight the challenges, and use their knowledge to support their livelihood and society's socio-economic status. The core areas of mentorship program are Digital Literacy, life Skills, and Leadership & Entrepreneurship.
He called upon tribal youths to use their Mobile phone as a tool to achieve their goals in life. He said that they should link Social Media like Facebook with the aims of their lives. He hoped that GOAL would be a bridge between Mentor and Mentee to exchange their creative ideas as the aim of the GOAL is to create opportunities for them. Nowadays, Digital Medium has become a part of our life.
Smt Renuka Singh Sauta said that the tribals, despite their creative potentials, used to get isolated in our country. Still, now, through Digital medium like GOAL, they will also get an opportunity to come on the front stage by showcasing their creative potential. Tribal people need to go on Digital platforms. She called upon tribal women to get associated with GOAL in large numbers to transform their lives.
Members of Parliament from ST Constituencies also expressed their opinions and gave valuable suggestions on GOAL.
Source Date: July 10, 2020 PIB Delhi