Where are you, women?
REPRESENTATIONAL PICTURE
Gujarat may have set an ambitious target of engaging 1 lakh apprentices by March 2019 in public and private sectors but the female workforce still remain largely ‘missing’ from the workplace. Of the 16,494 apprentices currently engaged in work (from April 1, 2018, when the Mukhyamantri Apprenticeship Yojana was launched) only 1,146 are women, reveals data from Gujarat’s Directorate of Employment and Training. The scheme was launched to increase the employability of youth in the state and encourage industry participation in grooming apprentices who go through basic and on-job training under contracts. Currently, around 15,348 men were engaged as apprentices as against just 1,146 women candidates in the industry. This means the scheme that was launched in alignment with National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) is reaching only 6.94% women candidates.
Read Also:
Bus-stand perverts be warned, you are just a panic alarm away from lock-up
The Labour & Employment Department has held 321job fairs till now, but women are yet to show up with high registrations. Six months to two years is the apprenticeship period Under the scheme, trade apprentices including ITI pass outs, Class 8th, 10thand 12th passouts, graduates, technicians, engineering and diploma engineers and even optional trade apprentices who are Class 5th pass and above can apply. While an apprentice period can be anywhere from 6 months to two years, the scheme enables graduate apprentices to earn Rs 4,984 per month and technicians Rs 3,542.
“A component of the stipend is shared by the State and the Centre to incentivise the scheme among industry. Firms with manpower less than 40 are mandated to take onboard at least 2.5% apprentices from this scheme while bigger firms can go up to 10%.
“We want to start a sustainable culture of apprenticeship in Gujarat through this scheme which is a win-win for the industry and the youth. While industry gets reimbursed against the stipend they pay to the apprentice and training expenditure is shown under CSR, job-seekers get stipend and industry exposure,” said Avantika Singh Aulakh , Director of Employment & Training(DET).
“Going forward they also get AITT (All India Trade Test) - govt certification for trade apprentices. The key takeaway of the scheme is that school dropouts, ITI, diploma-degree passouts may take job training at public and private manufacturing service sector unit. Gujarat is leading in this scheme followed by Haryana and Maharashtra. We have deputed 300 odd officers as apprentice advisors and assistants to work on the scheme,” she added.
‘Find trades that women in State will opt for’
Anandiben S Patel who heads the Department of Social Work at Gujarat Vidyapith explains, “State government should find trades and sectors women will opt for and evince interest. “Security and comfort are key here. Women are confined to the house and not allowed into the workforce. While that mentality is changing in women living in cities, in villages there is still a barrier to women going to work.”
On the missing women from the scheme, Singh said, “Traditionally there is a mindset that manufacturing sector hires ITI graduates who are men. We want to change that. We want to begin by pitching the softer jobs of manufacturing for women and back them with offers and increase their numbers as well.”
PSUs hire maximum number of apprentices
As per DET official, in 2017-18, around 21,000 odd apprentices may have been engaged by private and public firms, while traditionally the largest chunk of apprentices have been hired by central and state PSUs who took onboard at least 10% of their total workforce from among apprentices.
A senior DET official averred, “It is possible that due to ITIs being perceived as male domains, industry hiring tends to be high there and women miss out on that. The traditional mindset of women working in factories is yet to take shape and translate into jobs for women. Women also do not tend to come forward to work at MSMEs and industrial units.”
Nirav Choksi, chairman of ICAI, Ahmedabad, said, “Our members decided to give this scheme a try as we did not get enough staff through open market or agencies. We have 800 posts and are planning a job fair with labour department and Gujarat University for posts of accountants, administration staff and peons among others.”
Sorry state of colleges, mindset keep women away
With the scheme off to a good start, DET officials claim they have roped in around 100 industries to recruit under the scheme.
However, the sorry state of polytechnic colleges that used to train women for vocations and social mindsets have kept women away from jobs.
Read Also:
Bus-stand perverts be warned, you are just a panic alarm away from lock-up
The Labour & Employment Department has held 321job fairs till now, but women are yet to show up with high registrations. Six months to two years is the apprenticeship period Under the scheme, trade apprentices including ITI pass outs, Class 8th, 10thand 12th passouts, graduates, technicians, engineering and diploma engineers and even optional trade apprentices who are Class 5th pass and above can apply. While an apprentice period can be anywhere from 6 months to two years, the scheme enables graduate apprentices to earn Rs 4,984 per month and technicians Rs 3,542.
‘It’s a win-win for industry as well as the youth’
“A component of the stipend is shared by the State and the Centre to incentivise the scheme among industry. Firms with manpower less than 40 are mandated to take onboard at least 2.5% apprentices from this scheme while bigger firms can go up to 10%.
“We want to start a sustainable culture of apprenticeship in Gujarat through this scheme which is a win-win for the industry and the youth. While industry gets reimbursed against the stipend they pay to the apprentice and training expenditure is shown under CSR, job-seekers get stipend and industry exposure,” said Avantika Singh Aulakh , Director of Employment & Training(DET).
“Going forward they also get AITT (All India Trade Test) - govt certification for trade apprentices. The key takeaway of the scheme is that school dropouts, ITI, diploma-degree passouts may take job training at public and private manufacturing service sector unit. Gujarat is leading in this scheme followed by Haryana and Maharashtra. We have deputed 300 odd officers as apprentice advisors and assistants to work on the scheme,” she added.
‘Find trades that women in State will opt for’
Anandiben S Patel who heads the Department of Social Work at Gujarat Vidyapith explains, “State government should find trades and sectors women will opt for and evince interest. “Security and comfort are key here. Women are confined to the house and not allowed into the workforce. While that mentality is changing in women living in cities, in villages there is still a barrier to women going to work.”
On the missing women from the scheme, Singh said, “Traditionally there is a mindset that manufacturing sector hires ITI graduates who are men. We want to change that. We want to begin by pitching the softer jobs of manufacturing for women and back them with offers and increase their numbers as well.”
PSUs hire maximum number of apprentices
As per DET official, in 2017-18, around 21,000 odd apprentices may have been engaged by private and public firms, while traditionally the largest chunk of apprentices have been hired by central and state PSUs who took onboard at least 10% of their total workforce from among apprentices.
A senior DET official averred, “It is possible that due to ITIs being perceived as male domains, industry hiring tends to be high there and women miss out on that. The traditional mindset of women working in factories is yet to take shape and translate into jobs for women. Women also do not tend to come forward to work at MSMEs and industrial units.”
Nirav Choksi, chairman of ICAI, Ahmedabad, said, “Our members decided to give this scheme a try as we did not get enough staff through open market or agencies. We have 800 posts and are planning a job fair with labour department and Gujarat University for posts of accountants, administration staff and peons among others.”
Sorry state of colleges, mindset keep women away
With the scheme off to a good start, DET officials claim they have roped in around 100 industries to recruit under the scheme.
However, the sorry state of polytechnic colleges that used to train women for vocations and social mindsets have kept women away from jobs.
Recent Messages ()
Please rate before posting your Review
SIGN IN WITH
Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive. Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.