A three- day recruitment drive was launched on Tuesday, by a special initiative called Udaan or ‘flight’ under the public-private partnership, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) India wherein corporate firms held workshops to provide employment to youth as the region was recovering from the worst floods in a century.
‘Udaan’ has been working for three years but had halted its efforts after floods struck the region in September. More than 200,000 people were rescued during the floods in September, but it will take immense human effort and government aid to bring the valley back on track.
“After the floods, people here have been going through a lot of difficulties. The ‘Udaan Scheme’ is working in the state for since three years now and corporates from across India come here and select their candidates, train them and finally employ them. We were unable to do anything in Jammu and Kashmir in the past two months due to floods, so we thought of renewing our efforts to give opportunities to the youth here as the situation is better now,” said Bint Abass, the coordinator of the NSDC .
Abass added that 18 corporate firms were participating in the drive to train and recruit youth in a wide range of sectors like banking, information technology, finance, hospitality and education.
Around 5,000 candidates had been trained already and 2,000 were placed since Udaan started in 2011. Abass said she was hopeful that 2,000 more candidates would be placed this year.
While day one began with seminars and interactions between corporate and candidates, day two and three will be devoted for interviews and selections.
An employee, Aquib Zahoor, who got a job from the Udaan scheme said it was a good platform.
“I was looking for a job for one year. I filled forms for government jobs but there was no scope anywhere. Udaan was a good platform for me and I got the wings,” said Zahoor.
Companies that are participating in the workshops include some of the largest corporations like Accenture, Genpact, Reliance HR Services and Ratnakar Bank.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to office in May with a mandate to create jobs and kick start Asia’s third largest economy after a long period of low growth. Expectations are mounting that the government will take steps between now and the budget in February to stimulate investment.
The government has already taken some steps to make doing business easier and reduce red tape and subsidies. However, PM Modi has not moved ahead as fast on privatizations or welfare and tax reform as some of his supporter had hoped.
—ANI