The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : A chance for women to learn and earn

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Sunday, Jul 04, 2010
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

A chance for women to learn and earn

K. Lakshmi

— Photo: S. Thanthoni

ACQUIRING SKILLS: Women who have joined the electrician course interacting with a faculty member at Ambattur ITI for women.

CHENNAI: Fed up with searching for an electrician to fix problems immediately, T. Gandhimathi decided to learn the job herself. The short-term electrician course that was launched at the Ambattur Industrial Training Institute on Friday “came as a golden opportunity because it was offered free,” she said.

The course meant exclusively for women is being jointly offered by IMC Society of Government ITI and Schneider Electric India Foundation under public-private partnership.

Ms. Gandhimathi is one of the 15 candidates who have registered for the course till now, which is one of the first for women. Many candidates said the course would not only help them take up small electrical work at home, but also make them economically independent. The women are aged between 25 and 40 years and belong to economically backward strata.

Shalini Bhateja, Director Learning and Development, Schneider Electric India, said this course was offered as part of the company's corporate social responsibility initiative. “There are not many electricians in rural areas. We have trained 300 people across the nation so far through this course.”

A.S. Jeevarathinam, Commissioner of Employment and Training, said ITIs are coming up with innovative training programmes. Industry and government must support such ventures for underprivileged students.

Ashish Kumar, Ambattur Municipality Commissioner, said women must make use of the opportunity, as the four-month course also focuses on personality development, spoken English and basic computer knowledge.

The women electrician training centre will train at least three batches per year and each batch will have 30 students. Women aged above 18 are eligible for the course. K.S. Shetty, chairman of IMC Society of Government ITI, also spoke during the occasion.

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