An inclusive job fair was jointly organised by State Employment Exchange, District Employment Exchange of Employment Directorate Odisha, Department of Social Security & Empowerment of Persons With Disabilities (SSEPD) and National Career Service Centre for Differently Abled (NCSCDA) here yesterday.

About 35 companies like TATA Motors, HDFC Bank, Ginger a TATA Enterprise, SBI Life Insurance, KFC, Care Hospital, Force Motors, Karvy, Computer Lab., Med Plus, Godrej Orion Edutech, Eureka Forbes, Amaze India Agro Biotech Pvt etc. participated in the event. The companies offered salary ranging from Rs 6000 to 50,000 a month.

About 17,000 job seekers who registered for jobs were informed through digital mode details of job, eligibility, company’s name etc. During the job fair, each job seeker was counselled by 18 experienced counsellors to enable them to get selected for the appropriate job. Seventy trained volunters of Neheru Yuva Kendra were deployed to assist the job seekers, employers and skill providers.

Nirmal Chandra Mishra, (IAS), collector Khurda and chairperson of the organising committee comprising Manoj Mohanty, ADM, Bhubaneswar, ensured the fair was conducted smoothly. Women and child development minister Prafulla Samal appealed to the corporate world to employ persons with disabilities ((PwDs), which is excellent untapped human resources.

The government will extend all possible support and facilitate employers to boost job placement drive, he said. Mr Niten Chandra, IAS, principal secretary of SSEPD department said that all job fairs in district and block levels should be inclusive to provide equal opportunities to every job seeker.

Rajesh B Patil, IAS, director of Employment & Member Secretary, Odisha, Skill Development Authority (OSDA), said that Odisha government has been providing skill training to disable and non-disabled job seekers under ‘ Skilled in Odisha’ initiative to enhance employability. Ms Mansi Nimbal, IAS, director of SSEPD, expressed that corporate world is coming forward gradually to employ disabled and PwDs, which proves that they can perform well if appropriate opportunity is provided.