Maruti Suzuki Trains 10,000 Tribal Youths To Drive

The initiative was carried out with the help of the Gujarat state government

India’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), joined hands with the Gujarat government to train 10,000 tribal youths in professional driving. The training was carried out at the All Gujarat Institute of Driving, Technical Training and Research (AGIDTTR) located in Waghodia, Gujarat. The facility was set up in 2009, thanks to a public-private partnership between the Ministry of Tribal Development (Gujarat) and Japanese auto giant, Maruti Suzuki.

Established under the Gujarat Government’s Vanbandhu Welfare Scheme,  AGIDTTR has been set up specifically for tribal students from the eastern belt of Gujarat who work as labourers in farms and at construction sites. The structure of this 45-day residential training programme is such that, apart from learning driving, the students are groomed on several fronts, such as basic spoken English, workplace etiquette, yoga, table manners, map reading, crafts and entrepreneurship.

On achieving this feat, R.S, Kalsi, executive director of marketing and sales at MSIL, said that the objective of this training programme is to equip students with basic tools so that they can make a better living for themselves and for their families. He further added that the current batch had seen an increase in the number of students who enrolled for the training programme at the institute.

The entire facility – which has a driving track, classrooms and lab infrastructure – is spread across 20 acres of land. The institute has four simulators and 18 vehicles to provide driving training. Training is also being offered for light motor vehicles (LMV), heavy motor vehicles (HMV), HMV trucks and forklifts.

MSIL has also introduced a new course for light commercial vehicles (LCV), training for which will be conducted on the recently launched Super Carry. The training modules will cover aspects of cargo handling during loading and unloading, vehicle placement and weather-proofing. Additionally, the training will focus on areas such as fuel-efficiency of transport vehicles, safety precautions during transportation of cargo, and route planning.