Back in 2006, the state government launched a scheme to train tribal men and women for aviation, hospitality and tourism industries.
Air Hostess Academy, a Pune-based institute, was appointed to train the rustic tribal women how to play the perfect hostess in air. It interviewed 545 women and selected 95 for a year-long training course. The state government paid Rs1 lakh for every trainee.
But it has all come to nothing. Tribal minister Babanrao Pachpute said in the legislative council on Thursday said that the tribal women did not get jobs in the aviation industry despite completing the course successfully. Reason: Their manners were not found suitable for the job.
“We had started a scheme to train tribal men and women for aviation, hospitality and tourism industries. However, they faced problems in getting jobs in these fields because of their rural background and their lack of fluency in English. Apart from these, there are other issues, such as height, weight and manners, owing to which they (the tribals) failed to progress beyond a point,” Pachpute said in his written statement to the legislative council.
A query by BJP member Sanjay Kelkar led to Pachpute’s statement. Kelkar had asked, “Will the government accommodate the tribal men and women who have successfully completed the training course?”
Kelkar also wanted Pachpute to clarify whether he, too, agree with civil aviation minister Praful Patel’s statement that the tribal women did not get jobs in aviation industry because they were not good looking.
Pachpute replied that Patel’s statement had been misunderstood. “The actual meaning of his (Patel) statement was that the tribal men and women have failed to progress to the required level,” Pachpute said in his written reply.
