The Hindu Business Line : On their feet...

When her family was grappling with a financial crisis, Shanthi had to abandon her graduation dreams for a sales assistant's job at a Food World outlet in Chennai. Now the 19-year-old is all set to fund her higher education with her income. After checking the expiry dates of tea packets, she rushes through her B.Sc (Maths) course assignments. "I hope to work my way up this way," she says.

Her colleague, Lakshmi, who is also straddling her sales job with a B.Sc. course, says, "Relatives from my village respect me more, since I'm fending for myself."

The retail boom has also opened up new vistas for high school dropouts. Eighteen-year-old Shanmuga Valli, a sales girl at a Nilgiris Departmental Store outlet in Chennai, says, "When I speak to customers in English, they can hardly believe that I studied only up to Class IX." While her father earns paltry wages as a watchman, Shanmuga Valli is trying to contribute her mite for the family with a monthly salary of Rs 1,200.

But what about the long-term prospects? Sales girls who achieve targets fast are promoted with a substantial salary hike. "Experienced assistants are appointed as supervisors," says Jyoti Ramalingam, purchase manager at a Nilgiris outlet.

However, Gandhi Kalidasan, a representative of the Tamil Nadu Corporation for the Development of Women, cites a high employee turnover among the retail sales force. Ramalingam says sales girls at his branch usually quit within a year due to family commitments. "The sales girls are hired on a temporary basis at retail chains," says Swarna Vepa, Programme Director, Ford Foundation Chair for Women and Food Security at the Chennai-based M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation.

To cut costs, retail chains hire more women at a relatively lower salary level, she adds. "The girls are willing to change jobs for a salary hike of Rs 500," explains Ramalingam. Many of them are also able to save money to buy accessories, which their parents cannot afford.

Urban poverty has driven more young women into the sales sector. For instance, Asha Nivas, an NGO heading over 1,200 self-help groups in Chennai, has recruited sales girls for a leading supermarket chain from the city slums. The training programmes at Asha Nivas also provide life skills to the candidates. "Supermarket sales girls have a more flexible schedule compared to export factory workers. They have no night shifts," explains Fr. Kurian Thomas, Director of Asha Nivas.

Having conducted gender sensitisation programmes in factories, Chennai-based psychologist Sangeetha Madhu is cautiously optimistic about the retail openings for young women. "While such jobs give them financial independence, girls from poorer families can be susceptible to abuse as they have very little exposure to a work environment," she says, suggesting retail chains can encourage sales recruits to pursue their studies alongside work.

Meanwhile, these young women find employment opportunities in petrol bunks too. "We are more patient with the customers," says Kala, who started working as a sales assistant at a Bharat Petroleum bunk in Chennai after completing her Class XII exams. She earns Rs 1,000 a month and her male colleagues give a thumbs-up for her. As vehicles line up at the bunk on a scorching afternoon, she says, "I am happy with my work situation."

Researcher Swarna welcomes the entry of women into non-traditional work areas like petrol bunks. In fact, the participation of women in the labour force is higher in Tamil Nadu compared to the Northern states, thanks to higher literacy levels.

A course in hairdressing changed the life of Class VII dropout, Viji. After a long stint at Lakme, she is upbeat about her new job offer at Singapore. "Beauticians from India are in great demand even in the US," says the 20-year-old. Flaunting a trendy hair-do with an auburn dye, she has weaned herself away from her family's orthodox moorings. "My friends and I are far more assertive than our grandmothers were," says the feisty beautician.

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