Job fair lends disabled a helping hand

It was a proud occasion for Anita M. Young, energetic and just out of PUC. She always wanted to get a job and support her family and she could accomplish it. 

The fact that she has been crippled by polio at the age of five never affected her determination to achieve her goal.

“I’m really happy to get a job,” said Anita, who was recruited at the billing section of BangaloreOne, at the job fair for the disabled held in Kodigehalli in the Byatarayanapura constituency by its MLA Krishna Byre Gowda.

Anitha is one of the 150 people who took part in the job fair. Besides BangaloreOne, big names such as ITC Windsor, ITC Fortune, Costa Coffee, Cotton World, Vindhya E-info and others also took part in the fair. 

In need of semi and fully-skilled employees for various sections of their organisations, the companies turned to persons with disability, realising that they held more promise and were hitherto untapped.

The job fair had been organised by the volunteers in the constituency in collaboration with Cheshire Disability Trust (CDT), who have identified the employers. 

“The constituency has been an assortment of both urban and semi-rural neighbourhoods,” said Meenakshi Krishna Byre Gowda, who led the volunteer group that organised the fair. 

Candidates who attended the fair were largely from Kodigehalli, Hegde Nagar, Thanis­andra, Kuvempunagar, Jakkur and Jala. Most had visual, hearing and orthopaedic challenges, while those with milder forms of mental retardation were also encouraged to participate. They held qualifications from graduation to diploma and SSLC. “I always thought it would be difficult to compete with the able-bodied persons for jobs.

I’m happy that I am at least in the contention for one,” said Srikanth, who was shortlisted for a data entry job at Vindhya E-info.