Stunningly, of the 27 trainees comprising the first batch of enrolled students in the city, the employment firms rejected none. What’s more, the AAI took one of their batches to handle the traffic control rooms. AHA director Daya Prakash is naturally ecstatic. “The training period stretches up to a year, in which the latter six months entail the employment of the students as trainees, to assess their strengths and weaknesses,” he said on Wednesday.

Prakash added this was only a start. “In Maharashtra alone, our target is to register and train as many as 2,000 students,” he said.

It all started when AHA’s success at gearing up tribal girls — to make a mark in the service sector — inspired Minister of State (Home) Manikrao Gavit to push their cause through sponsorship. Under the Central Special Assistance Scheme launched in 2005, AHA received Rs one lakh per student, to facilitate enrollment and training of as many as 100 students in the academy.

“Our constitution initiated this scheme particularly for the welfare of the tribal population. We have done much to improve the Scheduled Tribe category, but we wanted to do something more in the direction,” Gavit said.