Job fairs will continue, says Minister Rajan

Mega job fair held in Thrissur on Saturday was just a beginning and more such fairs will be held in the future, said Revenue Minister K. Rajan.

The ambitious employment initiative is picking up pace with the district aiming to provide jobs to at least 50,000 people this year, said T.M. Thomas Isaac, adviser to ‘Vijnana Keralam.’ Both of them were interacting with mediapersons here on Sunday.

So far, the job fair has seen 1,246 candidates receiving job offers—with 613 recruited via online interviews and 633 through the on-ground fair held on Saturday. A total of 4,330 job seekers attended the event. An additional 2,636 candidates were shortlisted, said the Minister during a press meet at Ramanilayam.

Special interview

To ensure follow-up opportunities, special interview rounds will be conducted from May 18 to 24 as part of the Thrissur Corporation’s job fest. Importantly, even those who did not attend the main event but registered for jobs will be allowed to participate, said Dr. Isaac.

The final day of the Corporation’s job fest, May 24, will feature a special recruitment drive for Gulf construction jobs such as electricians, plumbers, welders, and masons, as well as accountants. Talks are ongoing with NoRKA and ODEPC to facilitate these international placements, said the Minister.

In a decentralised effort, local employment data will be gathered over the next two weeks with teams led by elected representatives reaching out to micro-enterprises across the district. Parallelly, special squads led by Kudumbashree and local district resource persons will identify women, especially homemakers, interested in taking up local jobs, said Dr. Isaac.

Mini job fairs

By mid-May, mini job fairs will be organised across local bodies to match local employers with job seekers. Entrepreneurs can select from a list of locally available and willing candidates, and necessary skill training will be provided by June in consultation with employers, assured Dr. Isaac.

When the curtain falls on theMay chapter of Thrissur’s job fest, officials are confident of securing jobs for at least 20,000 people, setting a strong precedent for the rest of the year.