Assam NGO organizes daylong jobs fair for disabled

Guwahati (Assam), Dec. 4 (ANI): A Guwahati-based non-government organization (NGO) recently organized a daylong jobs fair for the disabled.

The Career Access 2010 is the brainchild of the NGO Shishu Sarothi.

It is supported and sponsored by the Chennai-based Ability Foundation, naukri.com and various other government institutions.

Over 300 candidates from eleven states turned up in the hope of joining 27 participating firms in sectors like retail, insurance, IT and telecommunications.

Pritam Bora is from Sivasagar in Assam and is a post-graduate in information technology. He suffers from paralysis and found the fair a once in a lifetime opportunity to get a suitable job.

"This sort of career program for the physically challenged people helps because it provides them with employment. And I think this a good initiative and should be carried further," said Bora.

"Here, specially disabled people will get a chance to interact with the private sector and it is a way of promoting employment in the northeast. And we hope after recruitment is done, the process will lead to further employment in the northeast," said Monideepa Chaudhary, a coordinator with Sishu Sarathi.

In Manipur, Badhte Kadam, a central government awareness campaign was launched to raise awareness among disabled people about their rights under the aegis of the Spastic Society of Manipur.

Guru Rewben Mashangva, a Tanghkul singer, launched the opening song of the campaign in the presence of many disabled people.

Joykumar Singh, a disabled national bronze medallist arm wrestler, said: "In the past, the disabled people used to stay inside the house and were usually discriminated against. Now things have changed and through this campaign we have been giving them an opportunity to show their talent to the world."

"Our main focus is to focus on the disabled people and include them in the mainstream. We are trying to educate the common man and their families to include them to mainstream," said Tokendro Singh, Secretary General of the spastic society in Manipur

Disabled people have capabilities that can be tapped at various levels. And, campaigns like these will go a long way in helping them. (ANI)