Bangalore : Shankar Mahadevan Academy today announced the launch of their skill development program titled “My Country My Music” in association with Connect India, which has revolutionized the concept of last mile delivery in India. The announcement was made on the eve of SANGAM 2016, an Annual Global Meet organized by the academy celebrating the achievements of its diverse community of students from across 64 countries. The event will witness stellar performances all through the day on July 7th where the students get a chance to sing, watch senior artistes perform, interact with fellow students and learn.

In a first of its kind affiliation, the Shankar Mahadevan Academy and Connect India will harness their expertise in music and logistics respectively to implement skill development programs to train teachers and students alike in diverse genre of music and help them improve their livelihood. With more than a majority of the country’s population living in rural pin codes, Connect India will provide the initiative with a reach to the unreached.

“My Country My Music” will be deployed with a cutting edge Learning Management System called ‘Clood On’, which provides people with access to training and learning modules, even in the remotest regions with no Internet facilities.

“With “My Country My Music”, we would like to recreate the magic that the academy continues to create since its inception five years ago, bringing together music aficionados around the globe to collaborate, learn and grow. We are pleased to join hands with Connect India, who have proved their mettle in last mile delivery from day one of their launch last year”, says a delighted Shankar Mahadevan, Founder & Director, Shankar Mahadevan Academy.

Commenting on the company’s first step towards skill development initiatives, LR Sridhar, Founder and CEO – Connect India said, “We are positive that our strong physical base in the form of current network of 8500 Connect India centers across almost 5000 pin codes in the country with an ambitious plan of connecting all the 25000 + pin-codes through 50000 + centers over a period of next two years will help us make “My Country My Music” a one stop hub to learn music for both the urban and rural population alike. In addition, Connect India’s tie up with CSC Spv will aid in facilitating a robust last mile connectivity across its one lakh fifty thousand centers”.

Sridhar Ranganathan, the Founder & CEO Clood On and of Shankar Mahadevan Academy said, “The academy believes in knowledge without boundaries and in a bid to bring together music aspirants across the nation and the right training, we conceptualized “My Country My Music”. We believe our technology coupled with that of Connect India’s distribution network will do wonders to this endeavor. The academy will also look forward to partnering with Meghshala as a CSR initiative to provide skill development to the unprivileged”.

In line with the government’s Skill India initiative, Connect India and Shankar Mahadevan Academy also plan to extend their collaboration beyond this musical start. Through Clood On, the two partners aim to include other forms of learning to equip people in with skills to gain better employment opportunities.