Over 150 Chennai Port Trust apprentices from 1991 still await jobs

CHENNAI: More than 150 individuals who underwent apprenticeship training (Class III posts) at the Chennai Port Trust between 1991 and 1994 continue to remain un-appointed. They allege that they were assured jobs at the time but were later denied, citing a recruitment freeze.

The issue highlights a larger gap in how apprenticeship recruitment policies are implemented across Union government departments.

“Most of us are nearing 50 now, doing small jobs or running businesses,” J Maria Soosai from the 1991 batch. “Even if we get 10 years of service, it will help. What I don’t understand is why we were left out while others were getting appointment orders.”

For the uninitiated, Class III and IV posts include jobs in basic civil and mechanical works like welding, metal scrapping, painting, etc.

A subsequent batch trained between 1995 and 1998 saw partial appointments. Of the 104 apprentices in that group, 39 were hired between 1998 and 2001, according to a representation submitted by those trainees to the Ministry of Ports.

The remaining 65, who were also not appointed, later moved the Madras High Court seeking relief. In their petition, the non-appointment was attributed to a recruitment freeze reportedly imposed by the Ministry of Shipping from 2002.

However, a RTI query revealed that two Class III and IV posts were filled in 2022. The same reply noted that six employees in those categories had retired or taken voluntary retirement during that year.

While the court did not issue a binding directive, it observed that the Chennai Port Authority could “show benevolence” and consider a one-time appointment scheme. Soosai alleges that the department performs its own informal norms to fill up the vacancies.

Many of the 1991 batch trainees were also trained for Class III and IV posts. Despite repeated protests, they say there has been no official response from the Port Authority or the Union Ministry of Ports. In November 2023, the Ministry of Ports advised all major ports to manage Class III and IV work through outsourcing rather than recruitment.

Until 2014, the Apprentices Act, 1961, stated that employers were not required to offer jobs after training. The 2014 amendment did not make hiring mandatory or apply retroactively, but directed employers to frame policies for recruiting apprentices trained in-house. Unions say this has not been implemented uniformly across departments.

In 2019, the staff side of the Joint Consultative Machinery, the Union government’s employee representation group, wrote to the Department of Personnel and Training requesting clear instructions to implement the amendment, pointing out that several establishments had yet to adopt any formal apprentice recruitment policies. It also recommended that ex-apprentices be recruited based on batch-wise seniority without exams.

IIn the Railways, a share of Group D posts is reserved for in-house apprentices. In the defence sector, unions have pushed for seniority-based recruitment without written exams for trained apprentices. However, implementation has remained inconsistent across ministries.

Petitioners continue to appeal to senior officials including the Union Minister for Ports, as recently as February 2025. Without a clear policy or one-time scheme, the 1991 batch says they are left with few options.

Efforts to reach out to Chennai Port Trust officials for their response proved futile.