Mysuru: A partnership between Titan Company Limited and the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) has reached around 5,000 people across Karnataka, largely in the tribal and rural communities of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts. This partnership, which started with providing education for tribal communities in 2013, which further expanded into skilling, livelihoods, entrepreneurship and clean energy in 2020-21, aims to give marginalised communities a lasting route to education, employment and self-reliance. The work has achieved an 86 per cent livelihood and placement success rate, and more than half of its beneficiaries come from SC/ST communities.
Anil Chaudhry, Independent Director, Titan Company Limited, and representatives from the company visited programme sites across Mysuru district, where the delegation met women entrepreneurs, sericulture alumni and tribal students, and saw biogas and poultry initiatives on the ground.
Sharing his views, Anil Chaudhry, Independent Director, Titan Company Limited, said, “Good intentions truly matter if they lead to real change on the ground. What stood out to me today was a clear pathway to self-reliance. Change like this doesn’t come from one-off grants. It comes from staying committed and holding ourselves accountable for results. Having worked closely on energy access, I found it especially encouraging to see clean energy delivering both savings and dignity at the household level. These outcomes reinforce why long-term social investment belongs at the heart of how Titan creates value for its stakeholders.”
N.E. Sridhar, Chief Sustainability Officer, Titan Company Limited, said, “For us, community impact is about long-term partnerships built with communities, not for them, so people can shape better lives on their own terms. That commitment, which is part of our sustainability programme Pragati, runs across India, from restoring native forest in Hosur to supporting craftspeople across 20 states through Project Tarasha. Our partnership with SVYM in Mysuru shows the same approach at the household level, where 453 household biogas units are replacing firewood with clean cooking fuel.”
Smt Savitha Sulugodu, Chief Executive Officer, Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, said, “What makes our partnership with Titan meaningful is the continuity of support through interconnected touchpoints, from schooling and higher education to skilling, livelihoods and entrepreneurship. This sustained partnership has enabled us to strengthen human and social capital within communities. Our vision is to take this further, with a livelihood centre in every taluk and district of Karnataka that evolves as a Centre of Excellence, so that young people can build skills close to home.”
Women and girls are at the heart of the partnership’s impact. Over 75 per cent of scholarship beneficiaries are young women, more than 70 high-potential girls receive residential, STEM-focused education through the Viveka Chetana Programme, and most of the 80 entrepreneurs supported are women running millet, silage and dairy enterprises.
The partnership began in 2013-14 by supporting around 125 students at the Viveka Tribal Centre for Learning (VTCL) in H.D. Kote. It now reaches close to 700 tribal students. More than 200 have continued their studies beyond Grade 10, and over 60 per cent of graduating scholars from FY25 and FY26 have entered the workforce. More than 110 teacher trainees and 127 aspiring teachers have also been supported.
Since 2020-21, SVYM’s Viveka Rural Livelihood Centre (VRLC) has reached 3,788 rural and tribal youth, women, farmers and persons with disabilities. 85 per cent of VRLC trainees have been placed with 722 youth trainees who can now earn average of ₹12,000 a month; Of the more than 2,000 farmers trained, 1,952 report higher incomes, and livestock support has reached 306 vulnerable families.
Behind these numbers are individual journeys. Sarasu, a Betta Kuruba tribal woman from Brahmagirihadi who once relied on daily wages, received poultry training and 30 chicks through VRLC, has since built a flock of 65, and earned about ₹4,200 in a single month; she now aims for 1,000 birds. Yashas H.R., a young farmer from Sunakalmunti, earned ₹19,978 from his first batch of silk cocoons after sericulture training, while Santosh from Chakkur used VRLC dairy training and ₹50,000 in revolving fund support to grow his herd to 21 cows and now earns about ₹1.2 lakh a month from milk.
Clean energy has delivered some of the most immediate gains. In the past 18 months, 453 household biogas units have been installed across 38 villages, saving families about ₹26 lakh. In Niluvagilu alone, 28 units have replaced an estimated 56 LPG cylinders, saving around ₹1,900 per family.