Ranchi
Hemanti Kumari and Anchal Kumari were among many other young tribal girls, from far-flung villages of Simdega, Khunti, West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan districts, who had thronged the Hatia Railway Station in Ranchi to board a train for the first time in their life on Tuesday.
The excitement was writ large on their happy, beaming faces. More so, since their maiden train journey was set to take them towards a secured future and the Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda had arrived to personally see them off.
Hemanti and Anchal are among the nearly 1900 tribal girls who have been selected in a two-day recruitment drive conducted by Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd (TEPL) with the support of the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry. The first batch of over 800 girls left for Hosur in Tamil Nadu, where TEPL is located, by a special train.
The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs had recently joined hands with the Tatas to make the tribal girls self-sufficient. The girls would not just undergo skill development trainings through regular jobs but also pursue higher studies in various streams of their choice. They will also be given free food and accommodation.
Hemanti recently passed her Intermediate exams and Anchal was doing her graduation at a local college. Hemanti wants to become a teacher and Anchal is keen about joining the civil services. They had taken up computer learning programmes at different government sponsored centres, where they learnt about the recruitment drive through WhatsApp messages.
“As many as 1898 tribal girls from the rural areas of Seraikela, Chaibasa, Simdega and Khunti have got an opportunity to work for TEPL in Hosur. They will play a role in the State’s annual economy by contributing more than Rs 30 crores in their respective districts,” Munda said.
The parents of most of these girls even couldn’t afford coming to the railway station to see off their daughters – the eldest child in most of the cases. But, the girls were full of confidence. They have “promised” to send home money regularly to enable their younger siblings pursue their studies and they themselves too will be going ahead with their higher studies. None among them is willing to marry early.
The tribal girls were selected after screening tests that mainly involved mathematical and mental ability problems. They will be working as entry level operators in the cell phone manufacturing unit. They will have to work eight hours per day. For this, they will be paid Rs 16,000 every month apart from food and accommodation.
After completing the one-year training they will be enrolled in various courses to pursue their higher studies.
Zahira Khatoon from West Singhbhum abandoned her B.Sc (Botany Hons) midway to take up this job, even though her real aim is to become a doctor. “She is the first girl in our ‘extended’ family to secure a job at such a reputed company. This will enable her to smoothly achieve her goals,” Salma Khatoon, her mother, said.
While flagging off the special train, Munda told newspersons that he himself will soon be going to Hosur to inquire about the well being of these girls. He maintained that his Ministry had complete data base of each of the girls.
“This is just a small outcome of our ongoing ‘Sewa Pakhwara’ (service fortnight) campaign. These areas are also otherwise notorious for human trafficking. Most of our sisters and daughters here have boarded a train for the first time. We have miles to go,” Munda pointed out.
