Employers rally round with jobs for bereaved

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DUBAI // Relatives of victims of the Air India Express crash in Mangalore will be offered jobs at companies that their loved ones worked for, members of the Indian business community in the UAE said yesterday. Four prominent firms are offering employment through their UAE offices and, in some cases, their Indian branches. Associates of the Abu Dhabi-based Lifeline Hospital Group said yesterday that 50 positions would be created.

Dr Shajir Gaffar, the corporate relations manager of the hospitals, said employment would, however, depend on educational qualifications and willingness to relocate abroad. "We have a number of jobs available, from doctors and cashiers to messengers," he said. "But we are giving priority to those families who have been most affected. We want to first identify individuals within such families who are willing and able to take up the offered employment opportunities."

For example, he said, eight members of a family were dependent on Mohammed Abdullah, 60, who worked at a supermarket in Rolla, Sharjah. Mr Abdullah, who was a waiter in the supermarket's Hujoon restaurant, was returning home after nearly a decade to make arrangements for his daughter's wedding. He left behind a wife and six children. "This was one man who looked after a lot of people," said Dr Gaffar. "Such families with sole breadwinners who were based here should be helped."

The hospital will offer basic training if required. The initiative was proposed by Dr Shamsheer VP, the managing director of the hospital, who has donated one million rupees (Dh77,000) on behalf of the hospital to the Indian Embassy to be distributed among those family members waiting for compensation from the airline and the Indian government. The hospital would co-ordinate with the embassy for the recruitment drive to "identify the requirements and the numbers of individuals suitable for the scheme", Dr Gaffar said.

There are two Lifeline hospitals in Abu Dhabi, including one in Musaffah. Dr Gaffar said the group planned to add two new hospitals in Abu Dhabi and two in Oman, so those willing to travel abroad would have opportunities. If the people are not eligible to work in the healthcare industry, they would be helped to find positions outside their organisation, Dr Gaffar said. "The positions, to be sustainable and realistic, will be offered at the same salary as those already employed," he said.

The New Medical Centre Group (NMC) lost three employees in the crash. It has several hospitals and pharmacies in the UAE. Dr BR Shetty, the founder of NMC, said: "Anybody approaching us, especially from their families, we are happy to offer compensation. We are also opening up positions in the UAE and India." Dr Shetty said positions would also be available in UAE Exchange, which the company also oversees and has more than a dozen branches across India.

Family members would be hired depending on their qualifications, he said. The company would focus on families entirely reliant on a sole income from the UAE. The number of positions offered was "open", depending upon how many requests the companies received, said Dr Shetty. "One thing I believe, everyone comes with luck. We will be more than happy to offer them a job," he added. A spokesman for Yusuf Ali, the founder of the Emke Group, which owns the Lulu Hypermarket chain, said Mr Ali had visited several families of the victims in the past week and had extended financial help and offers of employment.

One hundred and fifty-eight people died when Air India Express Flight 812 from Dubai crashed after landing at Mangalore airport last Saturday. Most of the passengers were UAE residents. @Email:[e-mail]