Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Tata International to recruit SHG women members

K. Manikandan

200 will be taken on in the company's leather footwear manufacturing units after training

TESTING THEIR SKILLS: Self help group members of Kattankulathur panchayat union in Kancheepuram district undergoing a jigsaw puzzle as part of the selection test conducted by Tata International Limited for its leather products factories. — Ph oto : A. Muralitharan

TAMBARAM : For an Indian conglomerate whose campus interviews are attended by graduates of premier institutions, visiting a Village Panchayat Union to recruit prospective employees was certainly new.

In a unique private-government partnership, believed to be the first of its kind, Tata International (a part of the Tata group) conducted tests for members of women self help groups to recruit them for its leather footwear units in Chennai. The tests were conducted at the Kattankulathur Panchayat Union's office on Sunday.

Tata International has more than 700 employees, mostly women, in its three factories in Chennai where finished leather products are made and exported.

And in order to reach out to women from rural areas, the company decided to tie up with the Kancheepuram district administration. Kattankulathur Block was selected as it was close to Chennai. Tata International plans to recruit 200 women between 18 and 26 years, who have passed tenth standard. Rajaram Sriram, Divisional Manager of Tata International said the women were asked to undergo simple tests in arithmetic and asked to solve a jigsaw puzzle. Forty-three women SHG members attended Sunday's tests and the company hoped to recruit 30 of them.

After recruiting the 200 women, they will be trained on the basics of footwear designing at Tata's Guindy factory for three months and provided a stipend of Rs. 1,500 a month. They would then be absorbed as employees with all facilities as per the stipulated norms.

It would take about a year for them to be fully trained, and skilled women could hope to earn anywhere between Rs. 2,500 and Rs. 4,500 a month as salary, Mr. Sriram said, adding the women would also receive transport allowance. The company, as part of its expansion plans in the leather footwear sector, needed about 2,000 employees in the near future. In order to encourage home-based work for women, they also planned to outsource a part of their business such as pleating and stitching work and orders would be given to SHG women members of all age groups.

Kancheepuram Collector Pradeep Yadav said they were glad that a leading company had tied up with the district administration, and such initiatives would help in empowering rural women. Many companies, including multinationals, planned to open facilities in the city fringes and they could get in touch with the district administration so that similar ventures could be extended to other rural pockets as well, Mr. Yadav added.

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