KATHMANDU, May 15: Arati Kumari Chaudhary, a button operator at Ami Apparel in Sunsari, is receiving about 11times more in salary from next month compared to her present remuneration. More importantly, Chaudhary, 23, is will become more skilled and promising in three years in addition to handsome earnings as an industrial trainee-worker. Chaudhary is currently receiving Rs 5,000 per month. [break]
The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) was designated sole agency for sending Nepali Industrial trainees to industrial enterprises in Japan under an agreement signed in December 2003 between the Nepal government and the Japan International Training and Co-operation Organization (JITCO).
“It is great opportunity to be part of the first batch of Nepali industrial workers going to Japan. I am hopeful this will be a great opportunity to enhance my occupational skill during my internship there as well as to impart the skill I acquire,” said an elated Chaudhary, who has more than four years´ experience at Ami Apparel, a leading readymade garment producer and exporter.
Chaudhary is one of six lucky women trainees selected to do knitting, cutting and other work at a leading Japanese apparel factory. The company has agreed to provide them 70,000 Yen (about Rs 58,000 ) per month as remuneration.
Like Chaudhary, Indira Joshi, who was working at Bhaktapur-based garment producer Peace Nepal Fashion is also taking this opportunity to enhance her skills during a three-year internship. “This opportunity is also financially beneficial for me,” said Joshi, who was earning hardly Rs 3,600 per month.
Among the other selected interns, Kopila Ban, Sarada Pokhrel, Mamata Chaudhari and Dhan Kumari Acharya are also from Ami Apparel. They are scheduled to leave for Japan on Sunday.
As per the agreement with JITCO, the trainees have to take job-related training for the first year and will be selected for technical internship training for the next year if their performance is satisfactory.
FNCCI was much criticized for failing to send a single trainee for the last six years after the agreement was signed.
“The process of sending trainee workers to Japan has been initiated, albeit late. The process will go smoothly in the coming days,” Kush Kumar Joshi, president of FNCCI, told a press conference on Thursday. The six workers were selected out of 36 aspirants. Joshi informed the press that preparations were going on to select 20 trainees to work in agricultural enterprises in Japan.
Also speaking on the occasion, Talsuo Mizuno, Japanese ambassador to Nepal, expressed confidence that cooperation from the Japanese government will enhance the professional capability of Nepali industrial workers in coming days. The government has recently designated 168 manpower agencies for sending Nepali industrial trainees to Japan.