If you too are one of
those persons in search for a solution to India’s “ Jobless Growth “ , you may want to read :
Made in China’ smartphones may have taken
the world by storm, but it is ‘trained in India’ technicians who are ensuring
that users get more bang for their buck — by repairing the most expensive of
mobiles across the world.
With greater demand for mobile phone technicians, institutes in
India are not only training students to work with mobile manufacturers and at
service centres but also helping them set up repair shops abroad.
Unnikrishnan Kinanoor, Executive Director at Britco and Bridco,
one of India’s oldest mobile repair training institutes, which was set up in 1998,
says : “With mobile sales growing across the globe, quality manpower is
required to service the sophisticated devices. India’s biggest
strength is manpower and, with the right training, they can work anywhere in the
world.”
The Kerala-headquartered institute now has nine centres in
India, besides branches in Australia, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Somaliland. Its
students work with leading OEMs such as Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Micromax,
Flextronics, TVS Electronics and Lava.
In 2017, 350 Britco students
went abroad either through placement or on their own to start businesses. In
2016, that number was over 300.
“Most students prefer the Gulf countries where
even fresher earn over ₹40,000 a month,” Kinanoor adds. Professionals with two
years’ experience earn up to ₹1.25 lakh a month.
“In India, salaries do not rise after technicians hit a ceiling
of ₹25,000. That is why going overseas is an option for many,” says Shuaib
Sogay, founder of Mumbai-based Prizm Institute. Its alumni
run mobile repair businesses in the US, Canada, Germany and the Gulf
countries.
Many opt to stay in India too as smartphone sales are rising
rapidly here.
Over 3 crore smartphones are being sold in the country every quarter, next only
to China and the US.
“This requires an equally massive
workforce of technicians. There aren’t enough skilled hands to repair phones in
India. That’s why even a small fault takes many days to be resolved,” says
Sogay.
The two institutes also help students set up businesses
on completion of the course.
It requires an investment
of about ₹1 lakh,
excluding infrastructure.
“And even a fresh technician can easily expect to earn
over ₹1,000 a day. Our intention is not to create
technicians but entrepreneurs,” says Kinanoor.
The fee for the courses ranges from ₹9,000 to ₹1 lakh depending
on the duration and course level. The top-end courses at Britco include
language training to help students overcome communication difficulties
overseas.
Both Prizm and Britco are investing in R&D.
Britco’s R&D team travels to China regularly to buy new
repairing equipment and tools, as does Arshad Shaikh, who runs a business from
two shops in Mumbai’s City Center Mall, the hub of mobile repairs in the city.
“I travel to China regularly to get low-cost spares. I also update myself with
latest technology on these trips,” he says.
With shops in the heart of the city, he
earns over ₹1.5 lakh a month. “I am planning to start another shop
when my brother completes his training,” he adds.
That brings us to the opportunity for “ Self Employment “ for
India’s 12 million jobless getting added to our workforce, each year
In the form of “ Recycling / Repairing of E –
Waste “
Following figures prove my point :
·
In 2014, approximately 41.8 million tons of e-waste was generated
worldwide.
·
The amount
of worldwide e-waste generation is expected to be 49.8 million tons in 2018
·
Only 6.5
million tons of total global e-waste generation in 2014 was treated by national
electronic take-back systems
- Currently, only 15-20 per cent of all e-waste is recycled.
- According to a
recent report by EPA, every day, we are to get rid of over 416,000 mobile
devices and 142,000 computers either by recycling or disposing of
them in landfills and incinerators.
- Another EPA report reveals that by recycling one million cell phones,
we can recover more than 20,000 lbs of copper, 20 lbs of palladium, 550 lbs of silver, and 50 lbs of gold.
- Cell phones contain very high amount of precious metals such as
silver and gold. Americans throw away approximately $60 million worth of
silver and gold per year.
- Each year, globally, around 1 billion cell phones and 300
million computers are put into production.
- The amount of global e-waste is expected to
grow by 8 per cent per year.
- Roughly 80 percent of e-waste generated in the
U.S. is exported to Asia, a trade flow that is a source of considerable controversy.
=================================
QUESTION
:
Can , at least 5 million Indian
youth get self
employed , repairing / recycling ” E Waste “ generated globally ?
Absolutely , if NDA government comes up with a scheme to encourage Private Industries / Individuals to come
forward and set up 5,000 training institutes of the type set up by Britco and Bridco ( each training 1,000 students per year
)
Is that possible ? Will
private individuals come forward to set up such “ Repair Training Institutes “ ?
Yes , if
Government implements my following suggestion :
SkillCapital of the World ? [ 06 June 2016
]
Unfortunately , I do not see Shri Arun Jaitleyji
announcing this in his budget speech on coming Tuesday ( 01 Feb 2018 )
What a missed opportunity to win 400
seats in 2019 Lok Sabha elections – without spending from govt coffers or
raising taxes !
=================================
27
Jan 2018
www.hemenparekh.in
/ blogs