VIJAYAWADA: Giving a second chance to those with criminal records in the past, Vijayawada city police in association with Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation on Saturday organised a ‘Job Mela’ for the reformed criminals and unemployed youth on Saturday. As many as 224 candidates were selected and another 205 were shortlisted for the next round of interviews.
Of the total selected candidates, 37 had criminal records. They have been actively participating in the counselling sessions being conducted by the city police.
Vijayawada city police commissioner Kanthi Rana Tata, Central MLA Malladi Vishnu and other officials were present. As many as 17 reputed companies such as Varun Motors Private Limited, Ecom Express, Kallam Textiles, Swiggy, Mohan Spintex India Limited, VM Bakery Products Pvt Ltd, BYJU’S, Innovsource Services Private Limited, RAMCOR Group, Medplus, Navata Road Transport, Dhani Loans and Services Limited, Reliance Jio, Rama Cloth Stores, Kuraku Financial Services Pvt Ltd, Good Worker Technologies and MasterMinds Group of Schools participated in the job mela.
Kanthi Rana said the key objective of the programme is to give an opportunity for those who committed mistakes in the past so that they can live the rest of their life with dignity.
“We started identifying youth having criminal records and conducted counselling sessions for them with the help of Task Force and local police, psychiatrists and professional psychologists. The output is satisfactory as 45 persons with criminal records wanted to start life afresh,” the CP explained.
MLA Malladi Vishnu appreciated the efforts of the police department for taking such a step for reformation instead of their routine police methods of dealing with criminals. “Those who got jobs should perform duties carefully and make the department proud,” the MLA said.
During an interaction, the selected candidates promised Rana and other officials that they will not commit or indulge in any anti-social activities.