Around 1,900 tribal women from Jharkhand have been offered jobs at Tata Electronics Limited plant in Tamil Nadu during a recent employment drive conducted by the company in collaboration with the union tribal affairs ministry and 820 of them on Tuesday boarded a train for Hosur in Tamil Nadu from Hatia railway station, which was flagged off by union tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda.
The girls who left on Tuesday are from four tribal-dominated districts of Jharkhand — Khunti, Simdega, West Singhbhum (Chiabasa) and Saraikela-Kharsawan — who have been recruited for the post entry level operators at the greenfield plant of Tata Electronics Private Limited in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu. The selected candidates would join the job after a 12-day special training at the plant, company officials said.
The remaining candidates will be sent in the second lot.
Officials said a two-day recruitment drive was organized in Khunti, Saraikela, Chaibasa and Simdega, on September 18-19, 2022. The initiative received a great response and more than 2,600 girls and young women participated in the recruitment drive from the rural areas of the districts, of which 1,898 girls were selected in two days, said Navaljit Kapoor, joint secretary, tribal affairs ministry.
Officials said the selected girls, in the age group 18-20, with intermediate (10+2) being the minimum qualification, would be withdrawing a salary of ₹15,000 for one year along with other employee benefits as per law, besides getting an opportunity to pursue their graduation. A nominal amount would be deducted from the salary towards food, accommodation and transport.
Addressing the selected candidates at Hatia railway station, Munda, who represents Khunti in Lok Sabha, urged the young girls to become torchbearers for other girls in the remote areas of the tribal-domimated districts.
“You might belong to villages in remote areas and lack in exposure. But don’t forget that you belong to area that is land of struggles. You should not be concerned about adapting to new environment. I will son come to see you there. Today you are going to be trained. In years to come, you would be training other boys and girls. Today, you are going to the industrial unit. We are making efforts to establish such a unit here in our state,” said Munda.
Speaking to reporters later, Munda said the initiative was an example of a private-public partnership towards women empowerment and job creation.
Khunti, Sarikela-Kharsawan, Chaibasa and Zindagi are among the 13 scheduled districts of Jharkhand, which witness mass migration of young boys and girls to other parts of the country, often for menial jobs, who are often subjected to exploitation at the hands of their employers.
However, with tribals affairs ministry involved in the process and the recruiters being a Tata group firm, the recruits were confident about the opportunity.
“We often see such news reports (of exploitation) but this is likely to be different. The tribal affairs minister is himself involved in the initiative, so we don’t have reasons to doubt. Our employers are also a big company,” said Jasin Langudi, resident of Belandia, Chaibasa.
“I am very excited for this trip and have full support of my parents. The best part is I will get a chance to continue with my education, besides an opportunity to shape my professional career and become self-reliant,” says Nisha Baraik, a resident of Tukupani in Simdega district, before boarding the train.
Baraik is third eldest among her six siblings. Her two elder brothers and three younger sisters and her parents are dependent on agriculture for livelihood. Her eldest brother also drives an auto rickshaw to supplement the family’s earning.
