His joy knew no bounds when Kondapu Appala Reddy has been told by his friends that an IT-enabled services (ITES) company wants to recruit physically challenged graduates as its employees.

 I had my own doubts but I was jubilant when I got selected for the job under a pilot project launched in March, 2018 with just two employees,  Mr. Reddy, a deaf and dumb youth in early 20s who did M. Com.

He says the warmth with which he was greeted by other employees of the Visakhapatnam-headquartered firm -- Virtual Guard Services (VGS) -- was really very touchy.

Same is the feeling of Sagi Pavan Kumar Varma, who did MCA.  I almost lost hope of getting a decent job. However, on knowing about VGS  commitment to provide livelihood to physically challenged unemployed youth, I applied for it and subsequently got the offer letter, he says.

 Being a challenged person became hindrance for my getting a job. However, VGS management gave me an opportunity to prove myself that I am an able person just like others. Now my confidence level has gone up and my family is very happy that I have become financially independent,  he points out.

A dream come true

The company has so far provided jobs to 25 persons, including 14 speech and hearing challenged. All of them never dreamt that they could find jobs in an ITES company located at Tech Hub on the compound of Tech Mahindra.

VGS is the Indian arm of Pro-Vigil, an American company offering video monitoring and surveillance on real-time basis for clients in the United States and the United Kingdom. It also offers services like auto dealer and parking lot security to detect theft of tyres, tailgates and even vehicles, monitoring revenue audit, quality audit, IT and software maintenance support to its clients.

 No easy task

For training the special employees is no easy task. Process trainer Taninki Sreevani says she is very happy with the response from their new employees and all of them are performing well after undergoing special classes on how to rise to the occasion on their job requirements.

VGS has its R&D unit in Hyderabad. It has about 400 employees in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam units.

VGS Centre Head Kishore Dasari has told The Hindu that the organisation conceived idea to act differently by extending its support in the form of permanent jobs to physically challenged youth under CSR to prove the fact that they are as abled as others provided they are given the right support and training.