In line with its commitment towards creating and preserving livelihoods, DBS Bank India announced its partnership with TRRAIN (Trust for Retailers & Retail Associates of India), a non-profit engaged in training and placement of youth in e-commerce & retail sectors.
The partnership will support youth from low-income households by providing them with long-term employment opportunities.
Through the partnership, DBS will facilitate the skills training and employment of individuals affected by the pandemic and persons with disabilities through a one-year-long pan-India programME, a combination of classroom and online training sessions. The training will be conducted at TRRAIN centres across major cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi-NCR region, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, among others.
Upskill youth
Once the training is complete, candidates will be recruited by leading industry partners in the retail and ecommerce sector across Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities. The programme aims to train and secure jobs for over 800 individuals by the end of 2021.
Commenting on the partnership, DBS Bank India Executive Director – Group Strategic Marketing & Communications Shoma Narayanan said DBS is committed to making meaningful contributions to society and creating a lasting impact beyond banking.
“We are actively engaging with initiatives to build back better in the aftermath of the pandemic. Our partnership with TRRAIN is one such initiative as it will help upskill youth as well as the differently-abled and facilitate access to job opportunities,” said Shoma Narayanan.
Founder & Settlor, TRRAIN and Ameesha Prabhu and CEO TRRAIN B S Nagesh said trust for retailers and retail associates of India is happy to join hands with DBS Bank in its efforts to create sustainable livelihoods for persons with disabilities and underprivileged individuals.
Employment opportunities
“With DBS Bank’s support, we will be impacting the lives of 400 persons with disabilities and 425 underprivileged young individuals by providing them with employment opportunities in retail. We look forward to an impactful and continued CSR collaboration with DBS Bank,” said B S Nagesh.
The partnership with TRRAIN is the most recent in a series of initiatives announced by the bank as part of the ‘DBS Stronger Together Fund’, a global SGD 10.5 million fund set up by DBS in 2020 at the onset of COVID-19 to help sections of the society across the region that were hard hit by the pandemic.
Through the fund, the bank provided about 4.5 million meals and care packs to affected individuals across Singapore, Hong Kong, China, India, Indonesia, and Taiwan. DBS also introduced the ‘Towards Zero Food Waste’ initiative in 2020 to encourage a shift in behaviours and mindsets to reduce food waste. The bank’s commitment towards zero food waste aims to build a sustainable, food-secure future and aligns with its three sustainability pillars – responsible banking, responsible business practices and creating social impact.
In 2020, under the ‘DBS Stronger Together’ initiative, DBS Bank India partnered with ten NGOs to support immediate, on-ground relief efforts during the lockdown in the country.
Previously, DBS Bank India facilitated the provision of two million meals to the underprivileged affected by the pandemic in the form of food supplies and pre-packaged meals through partnerships with various organisations, including United Way Mumbai, Pratham Mumbai Education Initiative, Goonj, and Ola Foundation. The bank also partnered with UNICEF, United Way, Metropolis Labs and others to scale up public health infrastructure, provide medical supplies and equipment, and sponsor-free testing for the underprivileged.
Financial service
DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia with a presence in 18 markets. Recognised for its global leadership, DBS has been named “World’s Best Bank” by Euromoney, “Global Bank of the Year” by The Banker and “Best Bank in the World” by Global Finance. DBS was also ranked No 1 in India by Forbes in its 2020 list of the World’s Best Banks.
DBS Bank has been present in India for 26 years, having opened its first office in Mumbai in 1994. DBS Bank India Limited is first among the large foreign banks in India to start operating as a wholly-owned, locally incorporated subsidiary of a leading global bank.
DBS provides an entire range of banking services for large, medium and small enterprises and to individual consumers in India. In 2016, DBS launched India’s first, mobile-only bank – digibank, which now has ~1 million savings accounts. In November 2020, Lakshmi Vilas Bank was amalgamated with DBS Bank India Limited. The bank now has a network of nearly 600 branches across 19 states in India.
DBS provides a full range of services in consumer, SME and corporate banking. As a bank born and bred in Asia, DBS understands the intricacies of doing business in the region’s most dynamic markets.
The bank is is committed to building lasting relationships with customers and positively impacting communities through supporting social enterprises as it banks the Asian way. It has also established an SGD 50 million foundation to strengthen its corporate social responsibility efforts in Singapore and across Asia. In 2020, DBS introduced the “Towards Zero Food Waste” initiative as part of a global sustainability practice to encourage a shift in behaviours and mindsets to reduce food waste.
