Empowering women with nursing courses in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: A resident of Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad, Ismail Bee, now 24, was married off in a hurry after she completed her vocational intermediate course in Auxiliary Nursing and Midwifery (ANM). After bearing three children and many years of being a ‘model homemaker’, she decided to continue her education and pursue a career in the healthcare sector as a nurse. She found timely support from Seva Bharathi, which has been training many women like her, to become General Duty Assistants (GDA), who are also called ‘Nursing Assistants.’
Seva Bharathi, an independent organisation under the umbrella of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has been running a ‘healthcare skill development centre’ in New Bowenpally since November 2021. Five batches of nursing assistants have taken certified training at the centre and many of them have been placed in reputed establishments such as Yashoda Hospitals.
Most of the women inducted into the programme are young women mostly from rural areas. Training, food and accommodation are being provided to them for free and only a nominal fee of Rs 2,000 is taken to them, which is then paid to the National Skill Development Council (NSDC) under the Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship for obtaining certification. The course curriculum has been approved by the NSDC Level-4, healthcare sector skill council of India.
Under the programme, the trainees undergo three months of extensive training at the centre and are then made to undergo on-job training in reputed hospitals for one month.“Healthcare is one sector where employment opportunities are plenty. We want to train as many women in the required skills as possible, but we insist the prospective trainees to first firmly take a decision to make their career in this field before enrolling for the training,” Kuldeep Saxena, who is the in-charge of Seva Bharathi’s activities in Telangana, tells TNIE.
The programme is open to women between the age group of 18 and 35 who have studied at least till Class 10. Rajeshwari, 19, a trainee hailing from Wanaparthy district, has recently joined the programme after completing her BA. Despite being educated, she has been working as an agricultural labourer in her village till now. Though the decision to stay away from her parents for the first time was a little painful for her, she joined the programme to gain the skills required to make a career in the healthcare sector and take care of her family back home.
Ismail tells TNIE that after completion of training this month, she wants to work in a hospital and will continue her education by pursuing General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) or BSc in Nursing in the next academic year.