CanvasM & Tata DOCOMO Collaborate For 'Saral Rozgar' Service

CanvasM Technologies, Tech Mahindra's VAS subsidiary has collaborated with Tata DOCOMO, the unified brand of Tata Teleservices Limited for the 'Saral Rozgar' service. CanvasM had launched the service earlier in June, 2011 in partnership with NGO Rashtriya Rozgar Mission and the service is targeted at providing utility based services to bottom of the pyramid which is the blue-collar job segment.

Using this service, a blue collar job seeker (like a driver, maid, plumber, electrician etc.) can create his/her resume and then apply for jobs through their mobile handsets. This can be done over a human assisted voice call by dialing a short code 541410 using Tata DOCOMO number.

The service also allows job provider's to access the data of registered job seekers over the Web (www.saralrozgar.com) or voice (on mobile phones) and then employ a worker matching their requirement. The service will also enable people living in the rural areas to register themselves from their mobile phones and then apply for jobs in cities at their convenience.

Founded in 2006, Tech Mahindra's specialised VAS arm CanvasM specialises in enabling of solutions with managed services which bring together content, technology and device expertise.

As of now, there are more than one hundred categories of job seekers available under this service. For accessing the service, job seekers (who are also Tata DOCOMO subscribers) will have to pay Rs 10 for 10 days with 25 free minutes of free browsing. A top-up option of Rs 5 for an additional 12 minutes can also be availed.

It is an interesting initiative as the mobile phone is a medium with which the blue-collared workers are pretty familiar. Since it's a voice assisted service it also takes away the pain point of requiring the users to be literate.

But the question remains that since there is no intermediary that will take responsibility for the workers in the case of a theft or worse, will job providers actually employ workers on the basis on just their resumes?

Incidentally, there are certain other Internet ventures like Bangalore based Babajob.com and LabourNet.in, among others, that are aiming to sync demand for blue collared workers with those available to pick an associated job profile.