They get a chance for a better livelihood

Most candidates had orthopaedic disability

A job fair for the differently abled persons was organised by Cheshire Home in the city on Thursday. Photo:M.Periasamy.

With 80 per cent orthopaedic disability, 28-year old A. Harikrishnan was not able to get a decent job in spite of him having B.Sc. B.Ed. degrees. But Thursday saw him land a job of a cashier at a textile store at a salary he was satisfied with.

The 300-odd differently-abled persons who came to the Corporation Higher Secondary School at New Sidhapudhur on Thursday did so expecting a better chance at life like Harikrishnan.

They were there to attend a job fair organised exclusively for them by Cheshire Homes under the ‘Livelihood Resource Centre (LRC)’ project. Representatives from nearly 40 companies – ranging from those dealing with textiles to diamonds – from Coimbatore and Tirupur were present to recruit from among the 300. Most of the candidates attended as many interviews as they wished to, to decide on what suited them best.

Some were shortlisted and called for a final meeting on the office premises, while a few others were confirmed of their appointment on the spot.

Most of the candidates were those with orthopaedic disability and a few were those with hearing and speech impairment.

Persons with other disabilities were not present.

Explaining this situation, P. Mayadhevan, Project Co-ordinator of LRC said that companies were not so keen on employing people with visual disabilities the way they showed interest in those with other disabilities.

“This is the first time that we are organising such a job fair and the response has been very good from the industry. They are participating today because they want to give people with disabilities an equal opportunity,” he said.

Karthik Kumar K., HR Officer from Dimexon Diamonds, Coimbatore, said that the company was looking to recruit at least 25 people for cutting and polishing diamonds.

“We have already employed 10 people with disability and we want to take more. The ones we shortlist here will be called for a final interview at our factory at Narasimhanaickenpalayam to show them the kind of work they will be involved in before confirming their employment,” he said.