The MCED has been offering over 72 vocational short-term courses that offer services like plumbing, electrification, beautician and IT teaching courses. "These are for students who have completed their 10th or 12th standard and do not have the inclination to study further or are in dire need to earn money immediately. Following the course they can start small businesses at very low investment," said Diwakar Keskar, regional officer, MCED.

According to Keskar, this is a segment that has been unaffected by the economic downturn because of the nature of the jobs.

Automobile or telecom sales might have suffered but there is still a lot of demand for servicing jobs with both industries, he said.

"The city has over 14 lakh two-wheelers. Similarly, there are 1.5 crore telephones users. So servicing is a perennial source of income, irrespective of the economic scenario," said Keskar. "Even if they service four to five two-wheelers a day, they would be able to make a considerable income. The same is true of mobile phones as well," said Meghnath Kulkarni, training in-charge.