The phrase ‘one’s loss is another person’s gain’ is apt for the situation in Rajkot, where thousands of women have found jobs at engineering units, which were earlier filled by migrant workers from small and distant villages in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
These jobs mainly involve continuous laborious work and require a lot of stamina. As such, manufacturing units in the city preferred to hire men who had come to the state from other parts of the country looking for work. However, when Covid-19 hit India two years back, all manufacturing units had to shut-down work. The migrant workers lost their jobs and opted to go back home. Later on, when lock-downs were eased and production started the managers and owners hoped the workers would return. However, only a small percentage of workers came back to the units to re-start work.
This was the time that opened opportunities for women in the city. Rajkot units started hiring women willing to take up these jobs. The women are trained and offered practical experience by the units. Though the jobs are hard on ones physical body, women have successfully made their place here.These women are now involved in tasks like welding, casting, hammering, forging, pressing and rolling, moulding rubber and many others.
Rajkot is a leading industrial hub with over 6000 small and medium scale engineering units in the city. This industry employs at least one lakh people. The city accounts for 70% of automobile parts supply in the country and 200 units are original parts manufacturers for automobile companies.
