Port Blair, Sept 10: The Member of Parliament of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Mr. Kuldeep Rai Sharma has requested Mr. Rajnath Singh, the Union Defence Minister of India to exempt the condition of compulsory ex-naval Dockyard Apprentices far the candidates of Andaman & Nicobar Islands for the Tradesman post (Skilled) so as to enable the eligible candidates to apply for the post. However, the candidates in the event of their selections may be given an opportunity to undergo Dockyard Apprentices course at the Dockyard Apprentices schools of Indian Navy.
In a letter addressed to the Union Defence Minister, Government of India, the Member of Parliament pointed out that the Naval Ship Repair Yard, Port Blair under HQ Andaman & Nicobar Command has invited applications from the eligible candidates for recruitment of 304 Tradesman (Skilled) posts. In the said vacancy notice, the eligibility criteria fixed for the said posts is that the candidate must an ex- Naval Dockyard Apprentices schools of Indian Navy having qualification of matriculation or equivalent from recognized Institute or Board can only eligible to apply for the posts.
He added that the facilities for undergoing apprentice courses do not exist in the Naval Dockyard at Port Blair under A&N Command whereas these facilities are only available at Visakhapatnam, Mumbai, Goa etc. Therefore, the unemployed youths of these Islands who belong to poor and economically weak did not get scope to undergo apprentice course at the aforesaid Naval Dock Yards schools. Hence, if the criteria of Ex-naval Dockyard apprentices for the above said posts are mandatory, in that case, none of the unemployed youths of these Islands having passed ITI courses of different trades from the Government Industrial Training Institute are eligible to apply for the said posts.
The Member of Parliament further mentioned that in the earlier recruitment of such posts till 2017, the eligibility criteria prescribed for the posts was 10th Pass with ITI and many unemployed youths of these Islands got employment in the Naval Repair Ship Yard on the basis of ITI qualifications. However, due to the imposition of new conditions of Apprentices schools of the Indian Navy, the unemployed youths are unable to apply for the present posts notified by the Naval Ship Repair Yard, Port Blair.
The MP pointed out that due to the absence of industries in these Islands, no employment opportunities in the private sectors are available for unemployed youths in Andaman & Nicobar Islands other than govt. job in the government departments. Moreover, the economic condition of the public in A&N Islands has been drastically affected and because of which, the unemployed youths also victimized due to employment problems.