Persons with disabilities, transpersons take part in private job drive in Coimbatore

A private job drive for persons with disabilities and transpersons was conducted on the premises of the Collectorate here on Tuesday.

Of the 113 persons with disabilities (PwDs) and 23 transpersons who took part in the drive, 58 PwDs and 8 transpersons were selected by recruiters from the private sector. The age limit for the candidates was 18 to 40.

The candidates were also provided self-employment guidance and assistance for availing loans under Central schemes such as Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme and State schemes such as Unemployed Youth Employment Generation Programme.

There are 52,245 PwDs registered with the district administration and 190 transpersons with the Social Welfare Board, in the Coimbatore district.

Kavya Arumugam (30) from Puliakulam, who is polio-affected, said, "I have not attended school. The ₹ 1,000 that I receive from the government every month is insufficient to meet my needs. I got a job at Swiggy (an app for food delivery) as a call attendee through this job fair."

Sherin Beulah (22), a person with hearing loss, is among many M.Com graduates from the Sankara College of Science and Commerce in the city, who secured a billing and scanning position at Shri Kannan Departmental Stores for a salary of ₹ 10,500 a month. She aims to land a government job one day.

Kalki Subramaniam, a transwoman activist from the Sahodari Foundation in Pollachi, requested for mentorship and training assistance from the officials for her business to produce artistic sarees. Several entrepreneurs such as Aruna Ravi and Prema Natrajan from the Foundation sought loan assistance and guidance at the fair.

Collector G.S. Sameeran met the participants and promised to address their grievances - employment and otherwise - as soon as possible.