The conductor's job in eligibility qualification is class 10 pass as it would be a stable permanent job

AHMEDABAD: Himmat Solanki, a 31-year-old with an MA and MPhil in sociology, has been on strike for the last ten days, demanding a permanent job. Ironically, it is not a white collar government job that this highly qualified youth is fighting for.

He has been serving as a conductor in Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Corporation (AMTS) on daily wage basis for seven years. All he wants is his job to be permanent so that he has some financial security.

"Even though I have two master's degrees, I took up the conductor's job where the eligibility qualification is class 10 pass as it would be a stable, permanent job. I was given the appointment through the government's employment exchange. When I joined I was paid Rs 199 per day and today after nine years, I am paid Rs 315 per day", said Solanki.

First they battled unemployment despite being postgraduates. Then they fought off anger when the Government Employment Exchange recommended them for jobs of conductors for which the qualification is class X pass. They still took the conductor's jobs on city buses, thinking that a government job would mean a way out of a life of poverty. Nine years later, they are part of the 1,200 conductors on strike demanding permanent jobs with AMTS. Paid less than domestic servants, their only demand is a permanent government job. Jorubha Solanki, leader of the AMTS union says, "Over 50% of the conductors on strike are either graduates or postgraduates. The majority have been given appointments through the employment exchange."

Jitendra Patel, MA, LLB, said he joined AMTS as he was in dire need of a job due to a family problem. "Since 2006, I work on contract with AMTS. We come to AMTS office at 5am. If a conductor is absent, we get work in the in first shift, else we go back at 8.50am and 1pm, and hope that someone is absent."

Ramesh Jani, an MA, says the Rs 6,000 he earns as a daily wager on contract is not enough to ensure a decent living and pay the Rs 40,000 annual engineering diploma fees of his son.

"I am 46 years old. In 14 years, I will retire without having got a permanent job," Jani says.



http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Now-postgraduates-vying-for-permanent-jobs-as-conductors/articleshow/54707068.cms