Is it an income certificate signed by a local official, or the reality of a mother who skips meals so her daughter can afford exam fees? At Xcelevate, this question changed everything
While everyone else looks for the best, we look for the most worthy. And if we didn’t develop a robust process to identify ‘worthy’, it would be a struggle even today.
When we first began reviewing applications for our skilling programme, the numbers were crazy. Hundreds of young people filled out forms claiming to be underprivileged, each hoping for a chance at transformation. Who would not jump at such an opportunity? On paper, many looked alike. Even identical. They brought income certificates, school reports, and family details. But something did not sit right with us. Something was missing. Some was just wrong.
We just had to dig a little deeper to understand that in a country like India, an income certificate often indicates money changing hands. It only took a quick follow-up to reveal that some applicants who looked poor on paper were living in self-owned apartments with multiple earning members. We even had candidates walk in with iPhones after flying in from metro cities.
At the same time, there were other applicants who reported higher income than these families, yet their situations were much harder. There were more mouths to feed, so just enough was always a dream. Medical bills, debt, and large households meant that their actual disposable income was far less. Income by itself does not tell the full story.
It was then we realized how broken the system was. We couldn’t use what’s broken. And we didn’t want to fix it. We just had to create something else from scratch.
In India, opportunities for the underprivileged feel like a lottery. Most NGOs rely on documents that seem objective: proof of income, school reports, sometimes a note from a local official. But when applications arrive in the thousands, there is no time for real verification. Admission becomes a game of chance. And as a result, the truly deserving are often left out.
We could not allow that. If our mission was to elevate hidden talent, we needed to know for sure who was truly underprivileged and who was not. And have you noticed that when you are in a dilemma, the best thing to do is to pause? That is what we did. We spent six months asking ourselves a simple question: what does it really mean to be underprivileged?
This was critical because the impact of getting the answer right is life changing.
Not just for the student, but often for their entire family.
We discovered quickly that poverty is not just about how much money a family earns. It is also about what opportunities they can access and what barriers they must overcome. A low income does not always mean hardship. And many hardships are invisible on official documents.
We began by looking at economics, but not just as salary figures. We examined how families spent their resources. Did medical bills swallow half their income? Were parents sacrificing meals so their children could pay tuition? Did the family own assets or have access to scholarships that changed their financial reality?
We then studied education. Where did the student go to school? Was it a government school with limited resources, or a private one with better infrastructure? Did they have tutors, or were they the first in their family to even finish high school?
We asked about health. Illness is not just a personal struggle; it drains household income and steals time that could be spent learning or working. Disabilities and chronic illnesses place an even heavier burden.
We considered social standing. Entire communities still live under the weight of discrimination. A form can never capture this, but it determines access in real life.
We looked at gender. Millions of girls in India still have fewer opportunities than boys. The transgender community continues to be locked out of most formal work. Gender bias closes doors before résumés are even written.
Finally, we studied employment access. Some applicants had never set foot in a corporate office. No one in their families had ever worked in one. This lack of exposure was a barrier as real as poverty.
Piece by piece, the picture came together. We called it the Multi-Dimensional Underprivilege Assessment.
The framework starts with a first gate: elimination. Certain levels of privilege are non-negotiable. If an applicant’s circumstances clearly show significant advantage, they are screened out before the process even begins.
Then comes the scoring system. Each applicant is assessed across six dimensions with carefully assigned weights for each dimension:
Financial status carries the most weight because it directly affects survival (40 percent).
Education access is next, reflecting how family background and schooling shape opportunity (30 percent).
Access to employment opportunities is assessed to see if prior exposure gave them an advantage (10 percent).
Health challenges are considered, including illness history and disability (5 percent).
Social standing, including discrimination or abuse, also plays a role (10 percent).
Gender bias, particularly against girls and transgender individuals, is factored in (5 percent).
This point-based approach allows us to compare applicants fairly. Benchmarking ensures no one is judged in isolation, but against consistent thresholds, often informed by government and international data.
And finally, we verify. We visit homes. We speak to families. We check every piece of evidence. Because integrity is the only way to ensure that our support reaches those who truly need it.
The apprentices we have worked with so far, are now thriving in corporate roles. They are earning salaries their families never dreamed of, pursuing higher education funded by their employers, and giving back by mentoring others. Without our framework, many of them would have been filtered out by a system that equates poverty with paperwork.
Today they are software engineers, taxpayers, and role models in their communities.
Looking back, our journey was never about designing an algorithm or checking boxes. It was about seeing what others miss.
The world often looks at youth from underserved backgrounds and sees only what is written on forms. We chose to look deeper, to understand the lived realities behind the numbers.
This is how we make sure that we are not just playing a lottery. This is how we ensure that the truly underprivileged are not just seen but given the chance to rise.
At Xcelevate, this is our commitment. To uncover hidden brilliance. To challenge broken systems. To create pathways for talent that would otherwise remain invisible.
Because potential deserves recognition. And every under privileged youngster deserves more than paperwork to decide their future.
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At Xcelevate, we don’t give handouts; we build long-term, life-changing careers. Through community partnerships, bootcamps, and a powerful underprivilege assessment model, we uplift India's most overlooked youth into high-potential professionals.
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