The next time a husband dismisses his wife, saying, “Oh she’s just a housewife, unemployed,” Ajat Shatru of GharSeNaukri will change the wife’s destiny and relieve her from the daily humdrum. Six months ago, Ajat founded Ghar Se Naukri, a work-from-home employment service designed especially for Indian women, many of whom are forced either by society or by circumstances to stay at home. In short, Indian homemakers, that invisible workforce which according to the latest census, number around 16 crore!
“All these women have abilities, education and real latent talent, which is going to waste because society refuses to tap into it,” said Ajat. “I read somewhere that there are more than 16 crore women, confined to their homes as homemakers, according to the census. I just wanted to help them do something gainful for themselves, without having to deal with the restrictions on their mobility.”
Women can register themselves and avail of job vacancies like translators, content writing, beauticians, graphic designers and online tutors in addition to the regular cottage industry jobs like knitting, catering, crocheting and tailoring among others. “It is not comparable to the growth or advantages of a regular office-going job, but it has plenty of potential and it gives them an easy kickstart,” added Ajat.
A software engineer by profession, Ajat Shatru got into the business of HR consultancy in 2008. In a bid to help his business, he signed up for a psychology course, to gain insights on dealing with people. “As part of the course, I had to visit family courts quite often, which was mostly divorce and custody cases,” he said. “When I talked to the women hanging around there, waiting for their trial, I found that at least 80 per cent of them were housewives. It got me thinking, whether a factor like that could impact relationships. That’s when I decided to start GharSeNaukri, if only to help them gain a bit of economic independence.”
And he has already had several success stories in such a short span of time. He has signed up with 30 companies to provide vacancies, right from export houses, bakeries, IT and non-IT companies. Within six months, he has also settled 25 women in good paying jobs.
One such success story is that of Radhika (name changed) once a home-maker, now a work-from-home professional. “In Radhika’s case, her husband developed a liver infection and had to resign from his job,” added Ajat. “All of a sudden, it was left to Radhika to provide for the family, but she was needed at home too. Fortunately for her, she had good writing skills and we got her going on content writing assignments. Today she earns around Rs.20,000 a month!”
More on>> Careers
