In the driver’s seat

They are all like crude oil when they come in, and we have to do the refining and extract the petrol!” says K. Sridar, in charge of corporate social responsibility at Hyundai’s car manufacturing facility at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, waving at the 20 boys seated before him. Some of the boys smile, probably at the mention of ‘petrol’, but their faces register curiosity at my presence in their ‘school’.

The classroom wall is lined by charts containing road symbols and driving instructions; a mock traffic light stands next to the blackboard.

Most of the boys are high school dropouts from the neighbouring villages. Unable to land a decent job and told off by their family for being idle, they enrolled in this 45-day course fully paid for by Hyundai.

Steering young lives

Initially the school had to scout for students in nearby villages. Now, encouraged by the many success stories, applicants are aplenty for the 40 seats in each batch. The selection focuses on young men (18-25 years) from economically backward circumstances.

Once selected, students receive uniforms and a pair of shoes (“We want them to practise driving with shoes, because that is the expectation of employers,” says Sridar). Breakfast, lunch, and tea are provided, and the applications for learner’s and driver’s licences taken care of. The cost of training a student is Rs 10,000, and Hyundai has spent about Rs 30 lakh on this programme, which will be expanded. “When the students finish, they are all-round, responsible citizens,” says R. Sethuraman, Director for Finance and Corporate Affairs.

A former Air Force man, Sridar says the emphasis is on discipline. Students have to arrive for lessons at 8.30 a.m. sharp — latecomers are held back at the gate. The classes cover driving theory, practice, and basic car maintenance. In addition, lessons in elementary spoken English (many of them come from Tamil-medium schools), etiquette, and physical fitness are imparted.

Yuvaraj, who used to work as a driver for Hyundai before becoming a trainer at the school, says that in every batch a couple of students drop out due to lack of interest. Those who stay are driven by the idea of a respectable job and decent salary.

The programme enjoys a high success rate — nearly 90 per cent of the graduates have found jobs, with some choosing to become entrepreneurs. One former student has bought a truck and offers transport services for ferrying auto parts to factories. Some plan to start call-taxi services.

Earning respect

Anbarasan used a bank loan to buy a Verna, and both car and driver have been hired by a Korean executive at Hyundai. Anbarasan earns over Rs 40,000 a month, and spends Rs 5,000 on fuel. What does he do with the money left over? “I give it to my parents, so they can use it to run the family.” He is also planning ahead: “Once I repay the loan, I plan to buy another Verna. A few boys from my village are training at this school... I will employ one of them to drive the second car.” As he talks, he keeps looking at his watch, saying he has to rush because his client would be waiting.

While Anbarasan’s salary is on the high end of the scale, the graduates usually start out at salaries of Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000. Given the paucity of drivers in Chennai, salaries are set to rise. Sridar gets calls from policemen, doctors and company executives looking to employ graduates from the Hyundai driving school. Those who don’t right away land a driver’s job work in other capacities while they wait. Madhavan, for instance, works in quality control in spare parts manufacturing. “But I want a driver’s job because that will pay more,” he says.

The success of the driving school inspired another CSR initiative in 2010 — a one-year nursing assistant training programme for girls.

Nursing a dream

The Lions Club and a few hospitals partnered Hyundai in this initiative, which trains 50 girls in each batch, with the expenses borne by Hyundai.

Three batches have graduated so far, and “we have had to double the number of students in the last batch,” says Sethuraman.

Many of these girls were from rural areas who had dropped out of school and ended up staying home or doing menial jobs (“Some of them herded goats,” says Sridar). Now, they talk with pride about being gainfully employed. Buoyed by successful placements in hospitals, some of them plan to pursue a degree in nursing. A couple of them even dream that their children in the future would become doctors.

Thinking out of the crate

Among Hyundai’s CSR initiatives is a programme for farmers that involves planting and maintaining trees, and an IT-training programme to be launched for girls and boys in rural areas, says Sethuraman.

In an interesting initiative to generate useful things from waste, the wooden crates used to ship auto parts are reused to make classroom desks and benches at the carpentry workshop inside the car-manufacturing facility.

Over 25,000 pairs have been donated to nearby government schools, benefiting over 80,000 children.

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