India, New Delhi — August 17, 1991.
In the newly built Ministry of Vocational Empowerment, Aryan stood before a massive LED map of India. Points flickered across the screen—each a representation of a Saksham-trained individual waiting for real employment. The challenge wasn't training anymore. It was absorption.
"Ramesh," Aryan said calmly, "Saksham taught them. But we haven't built a landing strip for them to take off."
Ramesh Verma, the Industry Minister, nodded. "Yes, we can see the bottleneck. Factories still hesitate to recruit in bulk. There's no incentive or structure."
Aryan turned to the map. "Then we give them one."
That morning, Aryan formally announced India's next revolutionary platform: the National Industrial Apprenticeship Grid — a dynamic, real-time digital map of every skilled graduate from Saksham Yojana, connected with job demand data from across India's industrial ecosystem.
A single platform would:
Track each Saksham student via their Aadhar identity.
Show their skill certification, internship history, regional preference.
Match them with MSMEs, agritech units, electronics hubs, and even startup accelerators.
Companies that signed on would get incentives:
6-month payroll subsidy for each apprenticeship converted into employment.
3-year tax credit for companies establishing in Tier 3 districts.
Priority infrastructure allotment for clusters hiring 500+ local skilled youth.
The grid was integrated into the DeshNet fiber network that had already started expanding with BharatLink. Aryan called it:
"India's human capital supply chain."
By September, pilot projects began in:
Indore: textile + electronics integration
Durgapur: steel and machine apprenticeships
Coimbatore: precision tools and agro-equipment
Even remote districts like Latur and Puri now had digital kiosks where Saksham youth could upload their credentials via Aadhar, receive job updates, and even apply for relocation subsidies.
Within 30 days:
1.3 lakh apprentices were placed
18,000 were offered full employment
Japan and Germany sent observers to study the model
Aryan personally visited a unit in Jharkhand. A girl named Priyal, trained in CNC machinery, had just received her first job offer.
"Do you know what CNC stands for?" Aryan asked with a smile.
"Computer Numerical Control," she grinned. "But to me, it means 'Change Now Certain.'"
Aryan laughed. "Keep that attitude. This country needs it."
As he left the workshop, he told Ramesh:
"We're no longer a country waiting for opportunity. We're becoming the country that manufactures it."
That evening, the World Bank sent a confidential note:
"India's apprenticeship integration is a case study in human-centric economic design. Recommendation: fast-track loan tranche 3."
Aryan looked out at the lights of Delhi. Every flickering bulb was someone working.
And now, he was making sure each of them had a purpose behind it.