Bhubaneswar, July 20: The job fair organised at the Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for Handicapped here today was not a typical employment drive. For a change, the disabled job seekers were joined by their able counterparts to compete for the offers provided by renowned companies.
About 160 jobs were provisionally offeredto various participants today. Around 358 job seekers (disabled and non-disabled) had registered for the event, following which interviews were conducted after matching their eligibility and the requirement of employers. Around 154 job seekers (27 persons with disabilities) have been shortlisted by the employers, according to their requirement.
"Usually, it is the disabled who go and seek jobs in recruitment drives for general candidates. But, we wanted to promote the concept of "reverse integration" - by making it an inclusive affair for one and all. We had, therefore, invited students from other institutions," said assistant director (rehabilitation) of the centre Ram Kishor Sharma.
There were participants, including college freshers and trained professional candidates, from various institutes in the region.
As many as 12 pan-India companies such as the HDFC Bank Ltd, Axis Bank Ltd, L&T Finance, Aegis, Annapurna Microfinance Pvt. Ltd, Gargson Group (Renault, Ford & New Leaf), Eureka Forbes, Devyani International (for KFC & Pizza Hut), Innov source Pvt. Ltd (for Dish TV, SBI Card Payment & Godrej & Boyce), Garg Logistics, Gupta Power Infrastructure Ltd and the Reliance Industries Ltd took part in today's placement drive, said the organisers.
"I have been visiting other job fairs that get advertised in newspapers. But for someone like me, who is affected with polio, it is often embarrassing to be stared at constantly, not only by the employers, but also by the candidates. Some of them do sympathise. But, there have been occasions when I felt intimidated," said Suresh Mohapatra, a disabled participant recounting his experience.
"Our model career centre aims to organise more such job fairs in near future, so that more stakeholders can take the benefit of such platforms," Sharma said.
