SBI Foundation announces 11th edition of Youth For India Fellowship

The SBI Foundation, a subsidiary of the State Bank of India (SBI), has declared the 11th iteration of the Youth For India (YFI) Fellowship. The process of applying has commenced, and the final date for registration is May 31. The programme is set to begin in August.

The aim of the programme is to build a talent pool of socially aware and active youth, who in turn will raise a pool of projects, through innovation and ideas, to positively impact the rural communities, the Foundation said. The fellowship provides an opportunity for urban youth for understanding the ground realities and challenges of rural India, and also allows overseas citizens of India to connect with their roots in a more meaningful way, a PTI report mentions.

According to Sanjay Prakash, CEO and MD of SBI Foundation, 70 per cent of former fellows have continued to pursue meaningful careers in the social sector. "As an organisation, we are proud to fuel social enterprise and contribute to India's development and G20 goals," he stated.

"Over the years, projects implemented by our fellows across 200+ locations in 20 states have helped to accelerate rural development, as also resulted in inclusive and sustained growth across the remotest corners of the country, impacting over 1 lakh lives," Prakash added.

Citing examples, he said that among the programme's successful people are Siddharth Daga, co-founder of NeoMotion that designs and customises tech-enabled wheelchairs; and Shriti Pandey, who founded Strawcture in 2018 and was featured in Forbes 30 under 30 in 2021 for use of technology that helps in reduction of pollution by compressing crop waste into agri-fibre panels for industrial and commercial builds.

Prakash further said the YFI fellowship is a structured orientation with rural sensitisation and a built-in immersion programme. "We handhold fellows in their mentoring and capacity building while giving them the freedom to explore and experiment with potential solutions in conjunction with our non-profit partners," he stated.

"The programme is designed to catalyse innovation and accelerate ideation at every step of the process, enabling young talent to become future leaders," he added. This 13-month fellowship programme helps provide rural communities with trained and informed volunteers, who facilitate development planning and also support implementation at the village level, as per a report by PTI.