Vidysea Education joins NSDC’s NEED mission, targets 2 lakh panchayats, 30 lakh village youth

Education technology and career guidance company Vidysea Education on Friday inked an agreement with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed at the national launch of the National Entrepreneurs Empowerment Drive (NEED) at Birla Auditorium in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary were present at the event.

Spearheaded by Vidysea Education founder and CEO Karunn Kandoi, the National Entrepreneurs Empowerment Drive aims to ensure that no young Indian, regardless of their panchayat, is left without access to career guidance, livelihood pathways and educational opportunity, according to a press release.

Vidysea -- built by Jaipur-groomed entrepreneur Kandoi -- is one of 15 anchor industry partners that NSDC has selected to drive this national mission.

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What’s National Entrepreneurs Empowerment Drive?

The programme aims to transform 30 lakh village youth into entrepreneurs and job creators across two lakh gram panchayats in 28 states.

A homecoming mission for Jaipur’s own

Kandoi has spent years studying the country’s education and employment ecosystem, from the absence of career guidance in villages to the disconnect between rural youth and organised employers, to the chronic underutilisation of government schemes.

Kandoi is now leading Vidysea's TalentSync initiative to establish a professional Career Development Officer (CDO) in every partnered panchayat.

"Every time I travel to a village in UP or Rajasthan or Bihar, I meet the same person — a bright young graduate who doesn't know what to do next. Not because the opportunity isn't there. The opportunity is there. The college seats are there. The job openings are there. The government schemes are there. What is missing is someone to connect them to it,” said Kandoi.

“The CDO is that person. We are not building an app. We are building India's largest career guidance network, one Panchayat at a time,” he added.

"We are deeply honoured to stand alongside NSDC as an Anchor Partner in NEED. This moment would not have been possible without the exceptional leadership of NSDC and the tireless work of Ms Preet Sandhu and the Startup Stairs team, who had the vision to bring the right organisations together under one framework,” said Sameer Upadhyay, Co-Founder and CSRO of Vidysea.

“What we are launching today is not just a programme — it is a promise to India's villages that enterprise, opportunity, and institutional support will reach their doorstep,” he added.

Vidysea’s Impact: The CDO revolution

Under the NEED framework, Vidysea will establish a network of Career Development Officers -- trained, technology-enabled local professionals who run career and livelihood centres from within their own gram panchayat.

Each CDO centre operates as a Social Support Centre for its community, built on a foundational principle:

• No fees are charged from students and families for most of the services: CDOs never charge students or families for their services
• Service Excellence: Using Vidysea's AI-powered PathLynks platform, CDOs guide youth on career pathways, domestic and international university admissions, job placements, skill programme enrolments, and government scheme registrations
• Entrepreneurial Support: CDOs also facilitate access to credit through Mudra and MYSY loans, helping local micro-entrepreneurs establish and grow their businesses

Strategic partnership and government support

The initiative draws additional momentum from Rajasthan's pioneering Mukhyamantri Yuva Swarojgar scheme, providing interest-free loans of up to Rs 10 lakh to support the entrepreneurs identified through NEED. The programme architecture was curated by Startup Stairs, led by Managing Director Preet Sandhu, who served as the architect of the NEED framework and the operational bridge between NSDC's national mandate and the industry ecosystem required to deliver it at Panchayat level.

“NEED is a direct expression of our Prime Minister’s vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 — the belief that India cannot be truly developed until every Panchayat, every village, every family participates in its growth story. Anchor partners like Vidysea are the critical link in making that vision a reality. They bring not just a brand name but a functioning enterprise model, proven technology, and the operational commitment to work at the Gram Panchayat level day after day,” said Sanjeeva Singh, Chief Programme Officer, NSDC.

“It is through partners of this calibre that we will ensure the true Bharat — the citizens who live beyond our Tier 1 cities — is genuinely empowered, and not merely reached. NEED is our commitment that the fruits of India’s growth will extend to the last Panchayat,” noted Singh.