This Masai Graduate is Cultivating Rural Tech with Dhwani RIS
The demonstration of adaptability and people skills, that define a Masai graduate, is as essential as technical prowess in today's evolving landscape.
India's rural landscape, a vast expanse accounting for over 68%[1] of the Indian population holds an abundance of untapped potential. The Indian government has been relentlessly devising strategies and rolling out initiatives to empower these remote areas in various aspects.
However, the sinews and muscles that breathe life into these initiatives, and truly empower the rural populace, are technology and tech firms adept at manoeuvring this technology.
One such organisation is Dhwani Rural Information Systems Pvt. Ltd., founded in 2012 with the objective of harnessing the power of technology to drive social change and provide tech solutions at the grassroots level.
Despite the admirable work being done, the industry faces certain critical challenges. A critical hurdle on this path is the tech talent deficit in the country which stood at 21% for FY 2022-23.
For Dhwani RIS, the solution lay in Masai.
Chirag at Masai
Chirag, who is currently in his final year of BCA, started his tech voyage at Masai, where he enrolled in the Full Stack Web Development course in 2020, right after the 12th standard.
But, his journey at Masai wasn’t all smooth sailing. Being a high school graduate, he didn’t have enough coding knowledge and experience needed to excel in the course. So much so that Chirag had to repeat multiple units to develop a proper understanding of the concepts being taught in software development.
But it’s a testament to his diligence and determination that he embraced all the setbacks as stepping stones toward his ultimate goal.
Upon course completion he secured an internship in a Bangalore-based company while continuing his search for a full-time position. Solving DSA problems daily, and working on assignments, and his capstone projects, tremendously honed his technical skills and problem-solving abilities.
His persistent efforts ultimately bore fruit when he received a job offer from Dhwani RIS.
Chirag at Dhwani
At the time of Chirag's onboarding, the tech team at Dhwani was a close-knit group of 25-30 individuals. He began his stint there as an intern and was swiftly promoted to the position of SDE-1. He spent his initial days there working on an innovative project called Amazon Future Engineer (AFE) Class Check, aimed at facilitating Amazon employees' voluntary services to schools and NGOs.
Having been trained in React at Masai, Chirag had to adapt to and learn AngularJS which was the framework used at Dhwani. Chirag proved himself up to the task and made this transition quite smoothly with the help of his colleagues and managers. This demonstration of adaptability and people skills, that define a Masai graduate, is as essential as technical prowess in today's evolving landscape.
Given the rise of remote work and the gig economy, we have seen a paradigm shift in the significance of foundational soft skills across industries. In fact, according to LinkedIn, 78% of job postings internationally in the last three months featured soft skills.[2]
Chirag’s unique combination of technical and soft skills acquired at Masai has proven to be an asset for Dhwani.
Over the course of his nearly 2 years of tenure at Dhwani, Chirag has been instrumental in various projects. His contributions to MGrant, a web application for CSR budget tracking and management, led to a significant influx of clients for the company. He has also been an essential part of government projects such as Aajeevika- NRLM (National Rural Livelihoods Mission) and MCLF MIS.
One of Chirag's significant contributions was his work on the Central User Management system. He helped manage user data from multiple government projects, demonstrating his ability to handle large volumes of complex data and convert it into structured form. His work significantly contributed to Dhwani's mission of solving tech problems at the grassroots level and providing tech solutions to rural India.
Appreciation
Chirag's dedication and problem-solving skills, honed at Masai, earned him regular appreciation from his senior colleagues.
Final Thoughts
The tech talent gap in India is indeed a challenge, but it also opens a new door for companies to invest in non-traditional talent pools.
His story is a testament to the fact that practical knowledge and experience gained at institutions like Masai can be an effective solution to the scarcity that India currently faces.
Chirag attributes a major part of his growth to the human skill training he received at Masai, which according to him, enables him to be head-to-head with the more experienced counterparts in his organisation.
But his story is just the beginning. There are many more Masai graduates who are eager to demonstrate their abilities and make significant contributions to the tech landscape.
If you are looking to hire dedicated, adaptable, and skilled developers and data analysts who are ready to hit the ground running from day 0, hire from us today.
Click here to learn more about Dhwani RIS
Click here to connect with Chirag Agarwal
Sources:
[1]- https://techherald.in/opinion/rural-india-and-challenges-for-tech-backed-supply-chain-in-2022/
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