Recently, United Way of Kolkata, in collaboration with Genpact, announced the official launch of two groundbreaking community development programmes: the Curiosity Lab, a STEM-focused learning programme for schoolchildren, and G-Sakhi, a women’s skill development and entrepreneurship initiative. Genpact representatives Rachna Chugh, Sanjit Chatterjee, and Sutanuka Ghosh; United Way of Kolkata board members Dinesh Agarwal, Amitava Sen, and Dr Nayan Mitra; program partners; community representatives; artisans; educators; and students were all present at the launch event in Kolkata.

Chief Guest Debashis Sen, a fervent supporter and practitioner of “innovation-on-the-go” and former Managing Director of HIDCO and Chairman of NKDA, stated,

“I am confident that more and more intriguing innovations will emerge in West Bengal with these two new initiatives by Genpact and United Way Kolkata, especially with the Curiosity Lab Project raising awareness about artificial intelligence in schools.”

These initiatives are an important component of United Way of Kolkata and Genpact’s continuous efforts to promote equal access to high-quality education, sustainable livelihoods, and inclusive growth in West Bengal’s urban and rural areas. Through livelihood enhancement and capacity building, G-Sakhi supports more than 250 rural women entrepreneurs in the Bolpur-Sriniketan block of Birbhum district. The programme strengthens women’s digital and financial literacy while offering instruction in traditional and creative skills such as tailoring, macramé, batik, kantha stitching, and grass jewellery making.

Through G-Sakhi, women are assisted in becoming self-sufficient microbusiness owners who may increase home income in a sustainable manner and help local development. The digital and scientific learning gap in government and government-aided schools is addressed by the Curiosity Lab. The programme provides students with experiential learning opportunities in robotics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, 3D printing, and design thinking by establishing STEM labs in 13 schools throughout Kolkata and South 24 Parganas.

The baseline report from the two projects, which focused extensively on the deficiencies in these sectors and included significant suggestions to make the programmes sustainable, was distributed at the launch.

“As we strive to grow and expand in West Bengal, we want to give back and do something for the state because if the state is kind enough to give us land and licences to grow our business, it is our duty to give back and help the children and youth in West Bengal to be employment-ready,” said Rachna Chugh, Vice President and CSR Leader, Genpact. We choose to scale our CSR programme with this objective in mind.