Tamil Nadu: Over 150 Port apprentices from 1991 still await jobs

Over 150 individuals trained in Class III posts at Chennai Port Trust between 1991 and 1994 continue to wait for appointments, three decades after their apprenticeship training. Despite assurances at the time, these skilled workers trained in vital operations like welding, painting, and metalwork remain unappointed due to a reported recruitment freeze, raising serious questions about human resource policy implementation in India’s shipping ports and freight handling sector.

“We were promised jobs after our apprenticeship, but nothing materialized. Now we’re close to 50, doing small jobs or struggling to sustain our families,” said J. Maria Soosai, a trainee from the 1991 batch. “What I don’t understand is why we were excluded, while others in later batches received appointments.”

A later batch, trained between 1995 and 1998, saw limited placements only 39 of 104 apprentices were hired between 1998 and 2001. The remaining 65 approached the Madras High Court, attributing their non-appointment to a Ministry of Shipping recruitment freeze initiated in 2002.

However, a Right to Information (RTI) reply contradicted the claim of a complete freeze, revealing that two Class III and IV posts were filled as recently as 2022, even as six employees in those roles had retired or taken voluntary retirement that year. This inconsistency has intensified calls for transparency and accountability in port employment practices, a cornerstone of efficient port logistics in the supply chain ecosystem.