Just three years after its inception, RuralShores celebrated another landmark—crossing the 1,000 rural employees mark, at Bagepalli on Saturday.
Speaking at the event, Union corporate affairs minister M Veerappa Moily, said, “This is a demonstration of the willingness of corporates to provide jobs to the rural youth.”
He added: “RuralShores is a pioneer in this initiative and it is a great experience, which has proved to be successful.”
Deepak Parekh, chairman, HDFC Ltd, and Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-chairman, Infosys, were also present on the occasion.
“We are witnessing the next transformation of India, which is Bharat connecting with corporate India. I am confident that with this energy and enthusiasm, RuralShores will surge ahead,” said Gopalakrishnan.
RuralShores was started with the intention of bringing jobs to the people, rather than people to the jobs—particularly in rural areas—and curb rural migration.
RuralShores currently operates through 10 centres across seven states in the country, with two of its centres in Karnataka.
“We plan to have 100 centres in the next three years, and by the end of 2012, we aim to increase our workforce to 10,000,” said Murali Vullaganti, co-founder and chief executive of RuralShores.
The company is expected to break even in the next 12 months.
Parekh said HDFC was glad to be associated with RuralShores. He said the bank believe that this initiative is one of the most effective ways of creating rural employment, empowerment and development.
HDFC Ltd is a strategic investment partner in RuralShores through its equity participation, with a second round of investment amounting to rS14 crore, coming in from Lok Capital Venture Fund, two months ago.
