Make hay while the sun shines. Yes. You read it correct. Pawan Hans, claiming to be one of India’s leading helicopter transport company, has come up with an ingenious plan to make money. And they are minting it big time. On their web site, the public sector company has come up with a very brave and un-heard of example, at least in the public sector, to give practical training to students of Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (AME) for duration of six months on its fleet of helicopters. There is however a price and it is by no means fair.
Every student willing to train with the company has to pay 50,000 INR + service tax @10.3% totaling the amount to 55,150 INR. Also if the student wishes to have a single bachelor accommodation, he/she will have to shell out an additional 12,500 INR. The OJT document on Pawan Hans web site, available for download as PDF file, further states “Training will be exclusively at the risk of students and the company shall not own any obligation whatsoever and these students will not be offered employment in the company.”
While most airlines and maintenance organizations are known to charge certain amount as OJT fee, but an amount to the tune of 55,150 INR is certainly a first for students. Air India is said to charge 18,500 INR as fee for OJT for duration of six months. Air India too does not provide any job guarantee. While almost all major airlines, domestic and international, provide “On-job-training” to students of aircraft maintenance engineering, Pawan Hans is the only company to have a separate link under the banner “Practical On the Job Training for Students-unpaid” on its web site proving beyond doubt that there are indeed a sizable chunk of rich candidates willfully signing up for this gross exploitation, especially in the light of the fact that OJT candidates are a synonym for cheap and free labor. A typical OJT candidate slogs it out on the field just like any other permanent employee although in the role of a trainee/assistant/helper.
On another note, this is really disheartening for most aircraft maintenance students as most of them hail from working class families. Most AME institutes charge anywhere from 2,00,000 – 7,00,000 INR as fees for 2.5 years of classroom training in shabby facilities with old junk or discarded/crashed aircraft frames and engines. Most of these components had been out of service since more than a few decades ago. While the DGCA continues to grant approval to these institutes with little or no infrastructure, the number of these unemployed candidates is bound to rise exponentially with most of them seeking refuge in BPOs, that is after running from pillar to post and once they are left with nowhere to run.
The Wandering Apprentice.
its interesting...
ReplyDeletewaiting for more posts on ya BLOG