Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, a Ballari-based non-profit organisation, will organise a job fair for physically challenged people at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, on Saturday. Addressing a media conference here on Monday, Ashok Kumar S., regional manager of the trust, said that around 30 employers, including a couple of major companies, were expected to participate in the event. He appealed to the physically challenged youth in the 18-35 age group to make use of the event for exploring career options.

“We are expecting around 500 physically challenged youth with suitable qualifications. Anybody with relevant medical documents certifying him as physically challenged, except mentally retarded, can participate. The participating job aspirants are advised to be equipped with proper documents and educational certificates that are generally demanded by potential employers,” he said.

Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled has been organising skill training programmes and workshops for physically challenged youth in the State to prepare the disadvantaged population to be competent in the heavily competitive job market.

“Employers prefer physically normal candidates over physically challenged when both possess equal educational qualification. We, however, have properly trained physically challenged candidates to meet the requirements the employers demand. As a result, today many employers, including big companies such as Microsoft, are recruiting physically challenged candidates. Vidhya Infomedia, a Bengaluru-based company, has recruited 70-80 per cent physically challenged persons,” he said.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/career-fair-for-people-with-disability-on-saturday/article8302394.ece