A future excavator operator

Rajshekhar comes from a family that falls below the poverty line in India. When growing up, his parents’ income never made ends meet and Rajshekhar decided early on that he needed to help. He took an interest in the operator profession after visiting the coal mines in Ramagundam, where he saw operators in action with the machines. When he learned about Volvo CE’s free Junior Excavator Operator Training Course (JEO) for underprivileged youth, he immediately applied and joined. The course, conducted at the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation (GMVF) in Hyderabad, is a three-month stay on site, with days filled with training and education.

“My teachers here have an unusual teaching style. Even when I make mistakes, they help me learn from them without judging or making me regret anything,” tells Rajshekhar.

Given the JEO course’s track record of having secured excavator operator jobs for almost 100 percent of all its students till date, Rajshekhar is now confident of getting work, since trained operators are in short supply in India and abroad.

“I need to take care of my two sisters, so I am aiming to go abroad as soon as possible, to work,” tells Rajshekhar.

The course in Hyderabad holds a full schedule every day, and leaves nothing to chance.

“This is really a game-changer for the students,” says Vijay Simhan, Manager Training at Volvo CE India. “In just three months, someone with no livelihood or saleable skills learns to operate an excavator and gets a job, already knowing everything about a big, expensive machine. We believe that knowledge is performance, and that’s what counts even here – because with knowledge, one becomes employable.”