Dear Prof Mittal and Shatab, I am not a new member of this mailing list as Shatab believes, though, I largely remain invisible. I have learnt from experience that I have very little to contribute to and lots to learn from this forum of enlightened members and hence mostly use it only to get my (often silly and dumb) doubts answered. (smile)
I would like to briefly recount why I had to quit the public sector company I was working in, as it might come in helpful for someone else who finds himself in a similar predicament. I hope our dear Moderator bears with me for this largely off-topic posting. I worked in FACT Ltd (Kochi, Kerala) for 16 years till the VR in March 2004. I had risen to the level of Dy Chief Manager in spite of a gradual deterioration of my vision due to RP and its eventual loss in mid-2001. Though I was unaware of screen readers and OCR software packages at that time, I used to work on PCs using the built-in accessibility features or by giving dictations. I am an engineer by training and my functional specialisations included marketing (of engineering consultancy services), corporate planning and training in soft skills. Unfortunately, FACT had started making losses from the financial year 1998-99 and was gradually losing the pre-eminent position it once had as the biggest company in Kerala. In 2001, the NDA government decided to disinvest from the company and I started feeling threatened. The reason for my discomfort was not because I was not a good performer, but, from the experiences of BALCO disinvestment and Modern Food Industries disinvestment, I was aware that the incoming private managements took hostile retrenchment / punitive action against the officers and employees of the public sector company as soon as the one year non-retrenchment period agreed to with the government was over. I was aware that the private managements who were doing due diligence at FACT were more interested in the 1200 acre of prime real estate the company possessed on the outskirts of the booming Kochi city and not in reviving the operations of the company. Consequently, they would be interested in trimming the workforce to the minimum possible and at such mass upheavals, my disability could put me squarely on their cross-hairs, my track-record notwithstanding. I discussed the applicability of the PWD Act (with its clause protecting a person acquiring a disability while in service) with the then CCPD, Dr Uma Tule and other experts like Dr Bhushan Punani, Javed Abidi etc and the uniform response I got was that the applicability of the Act to a public sector unit after disinvestment was a gray area. I might have to start a legal battle that could prolong forever. Meanwhile, 13 workers of FACT who had acquired disability through accidents were summarily dismissed by the Management who were given mandate by the NDA government to cut the staff strength to the maximum before handing over to the private buyers. At around the same time, I read in Access India about 4 visually challenged persons being terminated by GAIL. Basically, I am not a fighter and the loss of my sight barely 2/3 years back had zapped my strength further. I had not yet started using Jaws properly and my mobility skills were non-existent. The political outlook was that the NDA would form the government again and it was just a matter of months before FACT would be disinvested. So, when the Management offered a Voluntary Retirement Package in January, 2004, I was tempted to take VR. I was just 39 at that time and being in the professional officers' stream, VR schemes were not usually made available for people like me. But, fortunately, the desperate Management extended the scheme to all sections of employees and the package itself was quite good. So, rather than be beaten by the looming stick, I chickened out and bit the carrot and came out of the company in March, 2004. (smile) I know this is not the most inspiring of stories and 3 years later, with a government change and brakes on disinvestment, my decision does look flawed in hindsight. But, with God's Grace, I got a job in a Tier II software company that is growing quite fast and, I have been able to learn a lot of new things here. Slowly, my confidence in myself is coming back, especially after learning from the super-achievers on the Access India network. (smile) And, my 13 disabled colleagues who were terminated by the company, are still fighting it out in the courts. Sorry for that long autobiographical posting. But, the fact of the matter is, for all the so-called job security of the public sector and the provisions of the PWD Act, I am sure, across India, hundreds of disabled persons like me have had to swallow bitter pills. One could of course fight long, legal battles, but, the imperatives of taking care of one's family often necessitate us to compromise and often start all over again. Rgds RS M: 98 472 76 126 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Shadab Husain Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 9:38 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AI] Is IT Or Any Private Sector Employment AnUndesirableOption? Why personal id? Please write it to openly personal id [email protected] after all we never had your introduction! On 6/28/07, Prof. S. R. Mittal <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dear sir. > Can you please write in a bit details as to why you had to quit your public > sector job? Were you forced to do so? Please write to me to my personal > e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sincerely Mittal. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Sudhir R (NeSTIT)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 8:52 AM > Subject: Re: [AI] Is IT Or Any Private Sector Employment An > UndesirableOption? > > > > Dear Venkat, > > > > I wish things were as simple as you made them out to be. (smile) > > > > Of course, we should keep an open mind about private sector employment. > > Of course, we have the ultimate freedom to quit companies who do not value > > our services or discriminate against us. Of course, we can start our own > > ventures and stand on our own feet. > > > > But, believe me, dear, at least for persons who have become visually > > challenged in mid-life, the trauma of vision loss is itself something > > that takes a bit of time getting used to. If, while getting adjusted to > > this physical impairment, one also has to contend with economic insecurity > > by quitting one's job or by struggling to start one's own venture, the > > experience can be unnerving indeed. I have gone through this, having to > > quit my public sector job just 3 years after losing my sight and believe > > me, finding a job even with good qualifications, experience and > > connections was very difficult. > > > > Gung-ho attitudes are good, but, when one has dependents to look after, > > one prefers to minimise, not avoid, risks. (smile) > > > > Rgds > > > > RS > > M: 98 472 76 126 > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of venkat > > ramana > > Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 5:59 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: [AI] Is IT Or Any Private Sector Employment An Undesirable > > Option? > > > > > > > > > > > > Honorable Members, > > > > > > I am delighted to present my opinion on the point, is IT > > sector, or for that matter, any private sector establishment an > > undesirable career option for the disabled? > > > > Here we should not go to the extremes. Some feel that the > > private sector is untouchable for the government people and vice versa. > > That is not true. If we prove our potential, we can pressurize even the > > private companies to regularize the jobs. Still they resist, I don't see > > any reason in working for those companies any longer. Then it will be the > > time to quit and look for work elsewhere. If that too fails, a fine idea > > is to start a venture of our own. > > > > > > Thanks > > Venkat > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Here's a new way to find what you're looking for - Yahoo! Answers > > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > with the subject unsubscribe. > > > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > > please visit the list home page at > > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > with the subject unsubscribe. > > > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > > please visit the list home page at > > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. 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