Thiruvananthapuram: With a view to providing jobs to students belonging to Scheduled Castes in the IT sector, the Kerala Empowerment Society has reached an agreement with HCL Technologies. The aim is to extend year-long specialised training in Information and Technology to those students who complete Plus Two and provide them with suitable jobs at HCL Tech.

Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Backward Classes K Radhakrishnan noted that thousands of Scheduled Caste students would get IT jobs through the initiative.

Kerala Empowerment Society CEO N Prashant and HCL Tech Director S Sundararamathu signed the pact. Scheduled Tribes Development Department Director D R Meghashree, HCL Tech Senior Vice President B Subbaraman, Sharmila Satyan and V Hemanathan were present on the occasion.

The eligible candidates will be selected via the preliminary examination being held at the district level and in Model Residential Schools. Upon making the cut, they will be provided Rs 10,000 during their internship and thereafter a salary of Rs 1.70 lakh to Rs 2.20 lakh per annum. These students will also have the opportunity to pursue higher studies in institutions like the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani; the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Kottayam; Amity University; IIT Guwahati; and IIM Nagpur.