One of the most pressing problems vexing the youth of today is the lack of employment opportunities, which leads to a variety of problems that affect their immediate family, the society at large and the country itself.
At the same time, there is a huge need of labour, both skilled and unskilled, among all industries ranging from the micro, small and medium enterprises to the huge companies.
This paradoxical situation, industrialists opine, is mainly due to a lack of awareness among youngsters of the job opportunities near their homes, which leads them to migrate.
This pattern brings its own set of social problems such as a stress on urban areas due to a huge influx of migrants and families getting torn apart.
To address some of these issues and bridge the gap between employees and employers, Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (MADITSSIA) is going to organise a job mela here on September 15 to fill vacancies across a wide spectrum ranging from sewing to administrative jobs.
The main problem, according to Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association (TANSTIA) vice-president KR. Gnanasambandan, is the orientation of the Government which focuses only on higher education.
The 12th Five Year Plan aims to increase to 23 per cent the number of school pass outs completing postgraduate education from the present 11 per cent.
“Once a person completes an engineering course, he/she will not consider going to technical jobs such as fitters and moulders, sectors in which the industry needs a large number of people.”
However, many of these engineering graduates also, after seeing the lack of jobs for their qualification, finally seek employment that is below their educational qualification and when they do so, the companies are reluctant to hire them as they fear such recruits would leave very shortly and effort spent on training them would be a waste.
Even in the upcoming job mela, more than 300 engineering graduates have applied while major vacancies are for posts like fitters, plumbers, tailors and moulders.
The banks are also contributing negatively as they look to fill up their educational loan portfolio only with students pursuing engineering or other professional courses.
In Gujarat, a highly industrialised State, he said, every one of the 425 taluks has at least one Industrial Training Institute (ITI).
Also, in Canada, a polytechnic education is more valued than an engineering degree.
Mr. Gnanasambandan said that the youth must come out of this engineering craze and look at other sectors where the industry needs workers.
The main objective of this job mela initiative, Association president V.S. Manimaran said, was to arrest the migration of youth from Madurai to the industrial hubs of Tirupur and Coimbatore.
With the companies nearer home offering job opportunities, these youth need not have to migrate. Many companies in Madurai itself, ranging from the TVS to small industries, have hundreds of vacancies.
“We are also going to discuss with the district administration the possibility of those having registered with the Employment Exchange being asked to come for this mela.”
People here were unaware of the job opportunities and do not know how to seek a job at the companies here. This job mela would be of great help to them.
Mr. Manimaran also said that while they needed 169 tailors, only three have applied for this post so far.
S. Nagarajan, chairman of MADITSSIA’s service sector panel, who is organising the job mela, said that companies were ready to recruit unskilled workers and give them the requisite training. The industries are ready to recruit even those with a minimum educational qualification of Standard VIII.
Giving a picture of the job openings available in the mela, he said that so far, around 100 spinners and an equal number of weavers are needed along with 300 helpers, 90 fitters, 200 moulder operators, 75 electricians, and 50 in boiling and dying.
Those who were willing to take part in the mela should submit their name, mailing address, telephone and mobile numbers, qualification, preferred job and register themselves on or before Tuesday (September 11) : The coordinator, MADITTSIA, 1A-4A, Dr. Ambedkar Road, Madurai – 625 020, telephone no: (0452) 252 3966.
