Ottappalam: A disabled woman lost an opportunity to secure a job owing to a clerical error by the prospective employer and the intransigence of postal employees.
The unlucky job aspirant Ajitha (37) is a resident of Mayilumpuram, Ottapalam. She was eagerly looking forward to the job opportunity which came her way through the Employment Office in Shoranur. The job entailed pasting labels on bottles at the warehouse of Beverages Corporation in Palakkad.
The problem arose as the envelope containing the interview letter misspelt her name as ‘Anitha’. The postman refused to hand over the letter to Ajitha, who has disability in both legs, as he reached her home on November 22.
Though she pleaded with the postman, pointing out that all other details in the address, including father’s name, were correct, he refused to yield. Next day, Ajitha approached Thottakkara post office, but to no avail.
On November 24, she reached the post office again, this time along with K B Sasikumar, chairperson of a standing committee of the municipality. On this occasion, postal officials contacted the officials at the Beverages Corporation. They admitted that a clerical error had occurred and the Employment Office also confirmed that it was Ajitha who was on the list sent by them to the Beverages Corporation.
Still, the postal authorities were not convinced and they asked Ajitha to come again on November 26. However, on that day, the office in-charge was on leave and Ajitha had to return empty handed again.
Ajitha reached the post office yet again on the morning of November 27, which was the day of the interview to be held at Palakkad. This time too, the postal authorities took all the time in the world to clear their suspicions and handed over the interview letter only by 3 pm.
Ajitha rushed with the letter to Palakkad and reached there by 4 pm for the interview, which had been scheduled at 10 am. But the Beverages Corporation officials expressed helplessness as 20 candidates who had arrived on time were already appointed.
