A ten-day skilling programme was organised for final year undergraduate students of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) here in association with tree-planting NGO, Nizhal.

Under the programme, students were taken on field visits and exposed firsthand to varied social and entrepreneurial skill sets. Projects included a familiarisation visit to a rural manufacturing unit that makes eco-friendly area plates, lessons in physiotherapy to help the aged in old age homes, a meeting with the police commissioner to make a request to eliminate the beggar menace in the city, a session and visits to several places with social activist Krishnaveni.

The programme also included visits to several orphanages, clean-up campaign, and lessons in traffic rules. The initiative finished with the distribution of thousands of saplings to augment tree planting in and around the city.

The student skilling programme is an annual event as part of the Rural Agriculture Work Experience programme, said a TNAU official.