Mumbai : With over 2.6 crore persons with disability in India, less than 1% find employment (International Labour Organisation – PERSONS WITH DISABILITY & THE INDIA LABOUR MARKET: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES). This is largely due to a lack of sensitization and mapping of job roles specific to various kinds of disabilities in the industry. Department for International Development (DFID)-Government of United Kingdom, Sector Skill Council for Persons with Disabilities (SCPwD) – Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (GOI), Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Youth4Jobs (Y4J), a one-stop-shop for any organizations wanting to hire youth with disabilities PAN India and ensure it helps their business, partnered to hold a workshop at the .at CII Conference Hall in Mumbai.
The corporate meet called “DISCOVER THE UNTAPPED TALENT POOL OF YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES” saw the participation of 50 employers from over 38 companies from different sectors like IT, banking and retail, to name a few.. Panel discussions had inspirational companies who hired youth with disabilities and the youth themselves speaking with energy and enthusiasm about their work experience.
Key areas of focus included the kind of talent that persons with disabilities possess, how companies can benefit from their unique perspectives, barriers faced by persons with disability when seeking jobs, how HR practices can benefit from provisions of the RPWD Act 2016, as well as the range of equal opportunities and good practices. The emphasis was on understanding “Ability in Disability” and tapping into fresh talent pool of youth with disabilities who are ready to work with required skill sets, mind set and competencies.
The corporate meet also included many fun-filled activities conducted by Youth4Jobs, such as Disability simulation activities that left the participants with a unique glimpse into the challenges faced by persons with disabilities and not just feel empathetic but also feel deeply respectful towards persons with Disability. Participants reflected and decided to begin their journey of inclusion in a respective company. The Meet also put up an Indian Sign Language kiosk, where attendees could take a crash course in learning basic sign language in 1 minute!
Mr. Vineet, (HR) Future Group, shared his experience of working with persons with disability. ‘Don’t assume that persons with disability can’t do anything. We have started a project named Sabke Liye where all the people can come & shop with them. The campaign’s motto is ‘If I can shop, everybody can shop’. In fact, our fastest cashier is a person with Speech & Hearing Impairment’.
Mr. Anil Kohli, founder of Chai pe Charcha in Mumbai, said, “Disability is in your eyes. They are very motivated & can do anything. They just don’t have opportunities. That’s why I started Chai pe Charcha, with the aim of providing employment to persons with disability”.
Ms. Anu Gupta from Department for International Development said "Skills development of PWD is one of our primary initiatives over the next 2-3 years. Both India & UK have joined hands to work together in job linked skill development program based on prevailing industry needs” Mr. Himanshu Misra from Axis Bank said, “Disability is more of a mindset. We should see what persons with disability can do, instead of what they cannot do.”
Youth4Jobs Foundation Ms. Meera Shenoy said “After listening to these inspirational stories let us all pledge to join the inclusion movement, where we will hire persons with disability and create an inclusive workplace for them.”
Youth4Jobs (Y4J) along with CII intends to hold similar corporate meets across various states in India, with the next Corporate Meet scheduled to be held at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. This will not only create awareness amongst the recruiters, but also generate interest in hiring persons with disability not out of pity but because it makes business sense. Also, DFID plans to organize similar focused workshops across various states of India with various partners by targeting more sectors. This will generate awareness and sensitization among employers where hiring of persons with disability is a business case.
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