In an initiative that would help not only itself but also its competitors to get ready-to-employ skilled manpower for the automobile industry, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd is planning to establish an Automotive Skill Development Institute (ASDI) for imparting technical training.
This will also facilitate the availability of factory-trained roadside mechanics since Maruti has kept the qualification for joining the course very low — even school drop outs are eligible to join up.
The company also appears to go beyond mere technical training in that the students will also be trained ‘in proper value systems of work culture and team work'. The company is seeking to change the Memorandum of Association through a postal ballot.
In the explanatory statement attached to the notice filed with the stock exchanges, Maruti Suzuki said that it had explored the possibility of establishing ASDI with the objective of providing technical training to those with at least school-level education so as to make them employable on the shop floor as well as in service workshops.
The students, apart from being imparted technical training, would be trained in ‘proper value systems of work culture and team work'.
Maruti said that, on successful completion of the course, the trainees would be absorbed at the service networks of the company and in its manufacturing facilities depending on its manpower needs.
The students, however, were free to ‘join any other organisation that might offer them jobs' and Maruti looked at this as a ‘Corporate Social Responsibility' initiative.