Dennis Selvan, TNN Aug 17, 2011, 11.55am IST TRICHY: P Ponnudurai, the managing director of Lion Dates Impex Private Ltd, "do not sport the smooth mannerisms of the average corporate don". Nothing could be more true than these words in his profile sent to the State Commissioner for Differently Abled Persons, P R Sampath, in Chennai by R Shyamala, the District Differently-Abled Welfare Officer (DDAWO), for Independence Day awards.
DDAWO recommends names of individuals or institutions in six categories to the State government for Independence Day awards. Lion Dates Impex Pvt Ltd, a Rs 150-crore company set up in 1978, won the Best Employer Award this year. Lion is today the country's largest dates processing and trading company, and has a strong presence across India. Ponnudurai said the award was in recognition of the humble role his ISO 9001:2000 certified company played in providing employment to rural women and for making the life of differently-abled people better. More than 90% of the people employed by the company are women and, most of them are mentally-challenged. They are mainly employed in de-seeding dates and other allied works at the company. The company at present employs 15 hearing-impaired and 11 mentally-challenged workers in the various plants in Trichy, Kachamangalam, Anthanallur, Panaiyakurichi and Cauvery Road in Trichy district. Of course, there are skeptics who claim that Lion employs differently-abled women for deseeding work because they make for cheap labour. Shyamala says the allegations are baseless. "In fact, I was the one who initiated the process to recommend his name after he heeded my request and employed some of the mentally-challenged women without any hesitation." Ponnudurai told TOI that his was a robust company and there was no need to curry favor from any quarter. He said he was committed to share some of his profit with the less fortunate, which made him employ the mentally-challenged women. Son of a landless farmer, Ponnudurai started working in a small provision shop at the age of 10. He did the job till he turned 17. His monthly salary then was Rs 85. Young Ponnudurai got his break when he got a job as junior assistant at the Collector's office in Trichy. Ponnudurai, Lion MD, said he was committed to share some of his profit with the less fortunate, which made him employ the mentally-challenged women http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-17/madurai/29896323_1_mentally-challenged-rural-women-awards Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ 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
