At a time when unemployment is raising concerns all around, there comes heartening news from Nanded in Maharashtra, where an IAS officer, Keerthi Kiran Pujar, has taken the lead in helping girls of the district get jobs in the private sector. Girls from the rural areas who have passed 12th are being recruited in Tata Electronics Private Limited as Junior Technicians.
Indian Masterminds spoke to IAS officer Keerthi Kiran Pujar, who is Project Officer, ITDP, Kinwat, Nanded, to know how this recruitment was made possible.
JOB OPPORTUNITY IN TEPL
It started with a job recruitment drive for 12th pass girls who belong to scheduled tribes and other backward classes categories. The recruitment drive was for the post of Junior Technician in Tata Electronics Private Limited, which is a new company in the Tata group.
Explaining how the administration facilitated the process, Mr. Pujar said, “We have a lot of qualified sub-skilled and skilled labour force in this area, but don’t have enough jobs. Coincidentally, Tata Electronics were looking for recruitment of skilled and sub-skilled manpower, so they approached the district administration to conduct a mega job recruitment drive for 12th pass girls, especially for the post of Junior Technician.”
The district administration directed the HR group of Tata Electronics to Mr. Pujar. The officer with his team did a mass publicity campaign and advertised for the post and for the prospective candidates. They spread the word through the help of NGOs and local representatives.
THREE RECRUITMENT DRIVES
The first recruitment drive took place last year in December, where 400 girls turned up and 140 got selected. Out of the 140, 50 girls reported for the job in Bangalore and nearby places. The administration again got in touch with Tata, requesting them for another round of recruitment as they still had a lot of eligible candidates. “They accepted our offer and came down to Kinwat and started another mega job recruitment drive. It was conducted on 6 and 7September,” the officer said.
This time they had 600 girls and Tata offered jobs to 410 girls, and out of them, 240 reported to the company. The administration again requested the company to recruit girls of other backward classes who are willing to work. So another recruitment drive took place on 27 and 28 of September and almost 4000 girls turned up and 1200 got selected.
The company is offering them packages of Rs. 16 thousand per month. After the deduction of subsidized food, accommodation and travel, they get 11 thousand in hand. The girls are able to save and send the money back to their families.
After the recruitment, the administration held meetings with the parents and counselled them to allay any fears as their daughters went out of the rural areas for the first time. “We also called the local community leaders and they also counselled the parents in their language,” Mr. Pujar said.
POSITIVE FEEDBACK
Talking about the positive feedback, he said that the girls and their parents were very happy for this help. “Right now, we have a high rate of unemployment in India and just getting a degree will not ensure a job, but fortunately, the company came down to this place and offered jobs.”
He further said that the Tata group is also offering degrees in B.Sc Manufacturing Science to these girls, so that they can learn and earn side by side.
“If the government, the corporate sector, and the civil society come together, this kind of thing can happen easily,” he said.
