Jafar Ali, Gopal Kumar Mahli and Gulam Murtaza downloaded ‘Mera Hunar’ mobile application from Google Play store on very day they read about it in newspapers some months ago, hoping to add little extra income every month which the government assured this could garner. Unfortunately, air conditioner technicians Ali from Chas (Bokaro) and Mahli from Kanke (Ranchi) are still waiting for a maiden call from someone who could ask for their services in respective areas.
Though Murtaza from Kanke (Ranchi) is not as unfortunate in comparison to others as he received few queries during last one month asking for his service as a carpenter, yet his own mistake of registering himself on the app as carpenter in place of computer operator has left him annoyed enough. So, in an era when the Government is investing huge on skill development programmes across the State, existing Hunar remains abandoned, at least so far.
launched by Chief Minister Raghubar Das in July this year, Mera Hunar app provides bucket of services required in households on daily basis including AC technician, maid, assistant designer, beautician, birthday party planner, blacksmith, car mechanic, carpenter, civil worker, computer operator, concrete meson, cook, dance teacher, delivery, dietician, driver, electrical foreman, electrician, event manager, fashion designer, fitness trainer, fitter, helper, home tutors from play school to high secondary, music teacher, nurse, painter, pest control, pathology technicians, plumber, pressman, security, sewing machine operator, sweeper, tailor, tourist guides, wedding planners, yoga teachers and few others. Jharkhand Skill Development Mission Society (SDMS), the nodal agency under which the application was launched claims of having around 3,000 service providers registered on the application.
So, why an otherwise fantastic effort of government launched in July this year to create an interface on mobile phone called Mera Hunar app between daily household service providers from unorganised sector and service seekers is on the way of untimely and unfortunate demiseIJ
“I wouldn’t say that Mera Hunar mobile application is on the way of untimely demise. The only problem is that we couldn’t invest enough time, energy and manpower to advertise the app as was required for any such ambitious programme. There were few other priorities in between, mostly related to skill development which needed immediate attention and we went with those. But we are going to give it a much needed push after January 12 when the Chief Minister is going to distribute over 25,000 appointment letters to skilled youth in State,” said JSDMS Mission Director Ravi Ranjan on Sunday.