Queue in employment office

Candidates queuing up to register at the District Employment Office in Vellore on Friday.At the District Employment Office here, the enthusiasm of Plus Two passed candidates in registering their names was undiminished for the past several years despite the dwindling employment opportunities in the Government.The Jayalalithaa Government, which imposed a ban on recruitment as part of its fiscal discipline measures, lifted the ban only in January 2006. But, this move only had a partial impact on the improvement of employment opportunities.

As far as Vellore district was concerned, only 405 candidates, who had registered with the District Employment Office, were recommended for postings, as against 2.06 lakh candidates on the live registers of the office. The sponsoring of candidates during the first five months of 2007 was negligible. Most of the recruitment was for the posts of secondary grade teachers, and drivers and conductors in the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, Villupuram Division.But, the general absence of opportunities in the other departments has not had any impact on the continuing registrations. S. Ramamoorthy, District Employment Officer, Vellore, said that after the announcement of the Plus Two results, about 1,000 candidates had been registering in the Employment Office a day, on an average.

The crowd waiting in front of the office in Arcot Road here was so much that the District Employment Office had to open a temporary registration counter on the premises of the Kodayidi Kuppusamy Mudaliar Municipal Government Higher Secondary School. A nine-member team, led by a Junior Employment Officer, had been deployed for the purpose.Registration of additional qualifications in the existing employment cards and renewal of old registrations alone were done in the District Employment Office."We are going to start a centre in Vaniyambadi to register fresh candidates who had passed the Class X. The date and venue would be announced soon", Mr. Ramamoorthy said. The District Employment Office was planning to set up a placement cell at the Collectorate to recommend candidates for jobs in the private sector.