Abhishek Nath, an entrepreneur from Hyderabad, is on a mission to empower the poor in villages across India by providing them with employment opportunities. His facility management company, Ixora Corporate Services (ICS), received the ‘Emerging Business of the Year 2016-2017’ award recently at the Middle East Asia Leadership Summit & Awards, organised by World Leadership Federation, in Dubai. A percentage of the profits that he makes through ICS is utilised to help the needy with free technical and professional skill training. He also grooms them physically, so they look presentable when they take up new jobs, and gives them accommodation in Hyderabad. So far, he has trained over 600 people from across Telangana state, Andhra Pradesh and North-East India.
Abhishek pursued his graduation at the Shri Shakti College of Hotel Management and then went on to work with several companies in the city before starting his own. “My friends and I were brainstorming one day and thought of doing something that touches people’s lives. Now, we travel to remote villages and personally interact with the villagers before bringing them here. Some even have degrees, but are clueless about what to do with them. We categorise them based on their abilities and they are all now employed,” says the 38-year-old.
About the process of training, he says, “First, their bank accounts and Aadhaar cards among other documents are sorted. Then they’re trained in the skills. We give them motivational speeches, show them videos and tell them about technology. They are then groomed and deployed at work, after which we keep a track of them.” Raju, an employee from Mahabubnagar, says, “I was working at a farm when I met Abhishek. It feels good to wear a uniform and work in a city.”
Abhishek adds, “When an employee gets his first paycheck, we celebrate by hosting a small party. One employee that we had trained had found a diamond ring in a washroom at the place he was working. He returned it to his boss. It touched me so much that I immediately left work, took biryani for him and his family, and we sat down and had a small talk. We were all in tears.”
