Call centre to recruit acid attack victims

A Mumbai-based call centre is set to recruit acid attack victims to make them financially stable and successful.

“Multinational or private companies do not recruit such employees due to their deformation caused by the acid attack. So, they get dependent on their relatives. They need to be financially independent to live their lives like any girl. An accident shouldn’t make them unemployable,” said Preeti Thaker Arora, an artist and entrepreneur who is running the call centre named SWOT Consultancy Ltd.

The centre, with 150 employees, has opened 20 vacancies for acid attack victims and specially abled candidates.

“Any acid attack victim or physically challenged candidate with sufficient educational qualification will be given the job with the same salary that others get for a similar job. There will be no discrepancy in their salaries. This will be a small step to make them independent,” she added.

The work profile of these candidates will mainly be a desk job where they need to make calls regarding credit cards. Interested persons can send their resume to Preeti at preetiarora@swotcs.com. In a similar initiative, an Agra-based café Sheroes Cafe has recruited five acid attack victims and has received world-wide recognition.

In India, 310 cases of acid attacks were reported in 2014. Out of it, 53 acid attack cases were registered in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Gujarat, seven in Haryana, six in Maharashtra, four each in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh and three each in Bihar and Orissa last year. This information was revealed in the Lok Sabha in 2014.