A mega job fair aimed at connecting unemployed youth with prospective employers was organized in Ballari on Wednesday where over a thousand candidates secured job opportunities during the event.
The event was jointly organized by District Administration, Ballari Zilla Panchayat, Ministry of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood, State Rural Livelihood Mission Sanjeevini-Karnataka, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana and Smt. Saraladevi Satishchandra Agarwal Government First Grade College (Autonomous), Ballari.
Chairman Dr. Babu Jagjivan Ram Leather Industries Development Corporation Ltd. Inaugurating the fair, Mundargi Nagaraj said the Siddaramaiah-led government is determined to support job seekers across the state.
“The process of filling more than 52,000 government posts in the state will begin soon after the decision taken by the Chief Minister-led government. The recruitment process was earlier delayed due to the implementation of internal reservation. The job fair organized by the district administration has given new hope to the unemployed youth,” he said.
A total of 76 companies participated in the fair. While 7,504 applicants registered online, 2,346 participated in the event, out of which 1,163 were selected by participating companies for various job positions.
Recalling earlier initiatives, Mr. Nagaraj said that during Mr. Siddaramaiah’s government in 2017-18, about 350 companies participated in a three-day job fair held near Jindal in Ballari, which helped provide employment to over 30,000 people.
He also noted that the divisional level job fair held recently at Kalaburagi has helped thousands of youth to get employment in the Kalyana region of Karnataka. The state government, he added, is also providing financial assistance to unemployed graduates under the Yuvanidhi scheme.
Mayor P. Gadeppa said that Ballari district has one of the highest concentration of industrial units in the Kalyana region of Karnataka and appreciated the initiative of the district administration to create employment opportunities for the youth.
Deputy Inspector General of Police, Ballari Range, PS Harsha said job opportunities are essential for the young generation and job fairs are essential to address unemployment in the region.
“Efforts are also underway to digitize the profiles of participating candidates and share them with the authorities in the jurisdiction of the county governor to consider suitable opportunities,” he said.
Zilla Panchayat CEO Mohammad Harris Sumair, who presided over the programme, said Ballari area has many talented candidates, including graduates and diploma holders, but direct interaction between companies and job seekers is often lacking.
“The job fair was organized to bridge this gap and allow candidates to meet directly with company representatives and participate in interviews,” he said.
He also advised young people to acquire specialized skills such as programming languages including Python and Java as well as emerging fields such as data science and artificial intelligence and machine learning to succeed in today’s competitive world.
Along with skills, he says, confidence is essential to perform well in interviews.
During the event, appointment letters were distributed to selected applicants. Candidates could register using QR codes while interviews were conducted by company representatives in various rooms of the college.
Five stalls with products made by women from self-help groups were also inaugurated in the school premises.
District Guarantee Schemes Implementation Authority Chairman KE Chidanandappa, Superintendent of Police Suman D. Pennekar, Deputy Conservator of Forests KN Basavaraj, Additional Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Zubair, Ballari Municipal Corporation Commissioner PS Manjunath, Zilla Panchayat Deputy Secretary Shashikant Shivapure, College Principal, Ballari District Office President, Avhlad Joshi, Ballari Labor Chamber President Prahlad Joshi, Ballari Development Workers were present skills of PS Hattappa, officials from various departments, employers, job seekers and public.
Published – 04 March 2026 20:32 IST
