Employement Exchange to get a new home after demolition of Asiatic Building.
Bangalore, April 11, 2018: The Employment Exchange office in Asiatic Building soon to become a distant memory as the Public Works Department (PWD) prepares to demolish the city’s iconic building.
The Asiatic Building located in Bangalore’s Majestic area houses the iconic Janatha Bazaar as well as a number of government offices like the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) office, which too are going to be razed from existence with the demolition of the Asiatic Building. The building was inaugurated in 1935 by the Yuvaraja of Mysore Narasimharaja Wodeyar.
K Srinivasa, Assistant Director, Sub-Regional Employment Exchange, said that they have already received a number of eviction notices from the PWD over the past few months.
Arvind, from Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) said that it was demarcated as a heritage building in Bangalore Development Authority’s draft Revised Master Plan 2031 which ideally prohibits it from being demolished. He added that INTACH received information about the PWD wanting to demolish the structure and build a shopping mall in its place. We need around 10,000 sq. ft. space to shift the current employment exchange office, added Srinivasa.
He also mentioned that around 40-50 candidates come to this exchange office everyday which is why a tentative space has already been allotted to them in a building which mirrors the dilapidated structure of the exchange’s previous home.
He explained that there are four exchanges in Bangalore and this particular one handles matriculate and undergrad degree candidates. This exchange receives the highest number of candidates among the four exchanges – 7000-8000 candidates annually out of which 30-35 percent get placed in various central government positions and private firms. He added that state government no longer recruits from the exchanges.
The Exchange has received a formal nod to shift from the Directorate of Employment and Training.
The owner of the alternate location where the Exchange is supposed to rent two floors has to pay the PWD a valuation fee and the whole legal and logistical process is expected to take two-three months more, Srinivasa said.
Sridhar, a student who came to the Exchange for an exam complained that even though he had made his card seven years ago, he had received only one offer till date, adding that it would have been really difficult to locate the new office as he was visiting the Exchange after about seven months.
Srinivasa said that people will face problems initially but they intend to invest in advertising to make people aware about the new location. Srinivasa, however could not confirm the allocation of funds for the same.
