In order to encourage participation in the programme, the civic body has also proposed to bear the expenditure for the students’ PMPML bus passes. Express photo by Sumit Malhotra
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has proposed to relax the family income criteria that decides which persons are eligible to take part in its training programme for aspirants for government jobs. In order to encourage participation in the programme, the civic body has also proposed to bear the expenditure for the students’ PMPML bus passes, so that they find it easier to travel to the training centre.
In a proposal tabled before the Women and Child Development Committee of the PMC, the civic administration said it wanted to help students from the city build a career as class 1 officers in the state and Union governments.
The PMC, in a joint initiative with the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), runs a training programme for students preparing for civil services and other government jobs. The programme, started in 2016-17, is meant to impart training to 100 students from the backward class category and 50 students from the open category every year. The PMC has allocated Rs 17,000 each for training of students in a year.
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Till now, only those whose annual family income was less than Rs one lakh per year were eligible for the training programme run by the civic body, but now the PMC wants the income criterion removed.
In 2016-17, 43 students from the backward class category and 32 from the open category took advantage of the programme, while in 2017-18, 35 students from backward class category and 34 from open category were part of it. So far, three students from the programme have cleared the Maharashtra Public Service Commission examination, while some others have managed to get jobs in the banking sector, police force and other government offices.
“In order to increase the number of students who take part in the training programme, the students would also be provided travel passes of PMPML buses, so that they can travel every day from their home to the college, and to the competitive exam training centre at SPPU,” said Municipal Commissioner Saurabh Rao.
The programme, originally scheduled up to 2017-18, is going to be extended for three more years with proposed changes in the eligibility criterion and financial assistance for travel expenditure, to ensure more students take advantage of the programme, said Rao.