CHARU SUDAN KASTURI

Infosys chief mentor Narayana Murthy in Delhi on Monday. (AFP)

New Delhi, May 5: Graduate engineers from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes struggling to find jobs may soon receive special coaching at "finishing schools" jointly sponsored by the Centre and information technology companies.

The social justice and empowerment ministry has approved a proposal from IT firms to jointly subsidise the training of students at the Hyderabad-based Institute of Electronic Governance (IEG), run by the Andhra Pradesh government.

Infosys, Oracle, Intel, IBM, Microsoft and Railtel are among the companies that have expressed interest in supporting the scheme, sources told The Telegraph.

The initiative comes on the heels of pressure on the private sector to introduce job quotas. But industry has been promising the government that it would help equip the weaker sections to find jobs on their own merit.

Confirming the tie-up, an Infosys spokesperson said the company would subsidise the stay of the students and provide "technical and infrastructural support to the Centre and the IEG".

"While there is no question of any discrimination in selections on our part, it is true that SC/ST candidates-engineers in our case-often lack the finer skills a top company requires. That is the reason we are entering into the scheme," the spokesperson said.

In February, Infosys had sent a proposal on behalf of the firms and the IEG to the ministry, asking for central support.

"The funds will be taken from our existing budget for special tuition to SC/ST students. Our approval has already been sent to Infosys, asking them to forward the same to the other partners," a ministry source said.

By December 2009, the IEG is expected to train up to 2,500 students, the official said.

The students will go in batches of 100 each, and the course will run for around 20 days a batch, the source said.

"The course will consist of two components. The first will involve training in human resource skills, essentially English. The second will consist of training with engineering teachers," the source added.

The IT firms have volunteered to help provide technical knowhow. The Centre will pay Rs 45,000 a student to the IEG.

In addition, each outstation student will be given a stipend of Rs 1,500 a month. Students based in Hyderabad will receive Rs 750. The students will have to clear an admission test to join the course.

A study by UGC chairman Sukhdeo Thorat last year had revealed that SCs occupy less than one per cent of top private sector jobs.