Ministry of Minority Affairs has identified 70,000 blue-collar jobs which require workforce
Noted actor Kamal Hassan, beauty expert Shahnaz Husain, and top-notch cardiologist Dr Naresh Trehan, among many others, will be roped in by the Central Government to train the youth of minority communities for skill-based jobs. To ensure a steady flow of jobs for minority communities, Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) has identified 70,000 jobs which require skilled workforce, and plans to arm the minorities with essential training to fill the gap.
While Hassan and Trehan have confirmed their participation in the programme, the Ministry is in close consultation with Shahnaz Husain and Vandana luthra of the VlCC fame to start similar skill-based training programmes across India. “Due to poor standard of education, a lot of youth from minority communities are rendered jobless after passing out from schools. Since most of them come from very poor background and are semi-literate, they are not qualified or trained for several urban jobs. They need handholding in the right direction,” Najma Heptullah, Minority Affairs Minister, told The Pioneer.
“In a lot of ‘behind-the-scenes jobs’ people need to be provided with a basic skill set. Under our new scheme Seekho aur Kamao, we have signed agreements with professionals who have identified these lacunae and will train the youth accordingly,” she said. Heptuallah said that noted actor Hassan will train the youth for the back-end technical jobs in cinema and mass media. Similarly, Dr Trehan, who runs Medanta Medicity, a super-speciality hospital in Gurgaon, will provide training for healthcare and hospitality jobs.
luthra and Husain — stalwarts in the beauty industry -— can provide training in beauty culture and hairdo. “We are hoping that at least 50-70 per cent of the people who undergo skill-based training will be absorbed by their trainers and the rest will be able to find jobs on the basis of their training,” said Heptullah.
Under the scheme, the Ministry will provide funds for training programmes. All youth enrolling for the programmes will be trained free of cost and may also earn stipend depending on the job requirement. The training institute can absorb the trainees according to their requirement. “The idea is to provide them a means of livelihood so that they don’t turn to crime for living,” she said.
Recounting an earlier interview, Heptuallah said, “Once somebody asked me what I want to do for minority community youths. To that I had said, we will train the youth, provide them jobs and ensure that they do not become inmates.” Officials in the Ministry are also in talks with international construction companies, which are in the need of trained labour. “We are negotiating with some construction companies, who need masons, painters, carpenters, electricians and a whole list of skilled labour and are also willing to provide them basic training,” said an official from the Ministry.
“If they can assure at least 50 per cent absorption, with competitive pays, where we are ascertained that the labour will not be exploited then we may go-ahead with the agreements,” he said.