OREANDA-NEWS. The Tata Sustainability Group today announced the appointment of Ms. Anita Rajan as the Chief Operating Officer to build out the group's skill development initiative, Tata STRIVE.

Prior to this appointment, Ms. Rajan has been with Tata Consultancy Services for over 12 years. Ms. Rajan is an MBA graduate from Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, has a Bachelor of Education from Mumbai University and is a Math Honours graduate from St Stephens College, Delhi. She has over 25 years of experience of working in the corporate and education sectors. The execution team led by Ms. Rajan will be guided by an Advisory Council chaired by Mr. S. Ramadorai and comprising experts from Tata and non-Tata organisations.

Skill development has been identified as a priority Group CSR Programme (GCP) at the Tata group. Tata STRIVE will address the pressing national need of skilling India's youth for employment, entrepreneurship and community enterprise. It will aim at creating training capacity in select sectors and trades for which there is a clear need, aligned with the 25 sectors of focus identified by the Union Government as well as skill gaps identified by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).

Tata STRIVE will optimise and scale up the various skill initiatives currently being undertaken across Tata companies, aligning them with national and global occupation standards. The knowledge expertise within Tata companies will bring in quality into the training programmes, appropriate certification and measurement of outcomes. An integrated web-based portal will serve as a platform for collaboration among Tata companies as well as external stakeholders with the objective of matching demand with supply.

The initiative will involve close working with Tata and non-Tata companies, NGOs, Foundations, Union and State Governments, and in particular the Ministry of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, Youth Affairs and Sports. The initiative will ensure appropriate representation for marginalised youth in the skilling programmes.