Patna, Sept. 21: The economic slump has taken a toll on a job fair to be organised by the department of labour resources and Patna University.

The number of companies attending the fair on September 22 and the nature of jobs it is offering leave much to be desired.

Sarita Sinha, the employment officer at the department of labour resources, said: “Companies are showing little interest in participating in the job fair being organised by us and Patna University.

“Those who have shown interest are offering jobs of salesmen at a monthly salary of less than Rs 10,000.”

Unlike in previous job fairs organised on the Patna College premises on January 31 and April 14 this year, top companies are giving Sunday’s fair a miss.

In the earlier fairs, the major recruiters were Wipro, Atlantis Medicare Pvt Ltd, Hawkman Technologies. This time round, these major players have turned down the invite because of the downturn.

Forget multinational companies, even local job providers such as Patna Doon Public School, Birla School, Usha Martin World School and DAV Group of Institutions, who had hand-picked teachers, computer operators and accountants during the earlier job fairs, are not turning up this time.

The repercussion of the slowdown is such that the average salary being offered this time is not more than Rs 12,000 a month, while at the previous fairs, it was over Rs 15,000.

A senior officer with the labour department said: “We have been hearing from recruiters that they can hire engineers at Rs 15,000-20,000/month. Then why should they appoint a graduate or a postgraduate on such a salary?”

Students, too, are not very optimistic about the job fair.

Sanjay Sharma, a postgraduate science student of Patna University, said: “The companies, which are going to take part in the job fair, would not offer more than Rs 10,000 because of the recession. Apart from IITs and NITs, even engineering colleges are facing a tough time because of the slowdown.”

The fair will be organised at Patna College from 11am to 5pm on September 22. Around 23 companies would participate in the fair.

It will be open to graduates from all universities and the process of selection will be a test followed by interviews.