Business

The Climb Gets Steeper

Is India Inc doing its bit for the differently abled?

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The Climb Gets Steeper
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A national policy was approved in '06, yet only Chhattisgarh and Karnataka have draft policies. Senior labour ministry officials stress that there are 20 vocational rehabilitation centres in the country to train 10,000 people annually. Last year, 3,000 of them were given employment. Sujit Gupta, head of CII's disability panel adds that there are several positive stories like ITC's work in the hospitality sector. Obviously, these are too small to make a difference. Says Javed Abidi, convenor of the Disabled Rights Group: "I don't think India has woken up to the reality that by not making them a partner, you are only making the disabled dependent on others. Whatever the government may be saying or the NGOs may be doing, we cannot talk about employment without access to education and vocational skills."

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Wheelchair-bound for most of her life, Sminu Jindal, founder of NGO Svayam and MD, Jindal Saw, is striving to work with the government to make public infrastructure and work places more accessible to such people. "Our environment is not conducive to helping those with any kind of impairment. The public infrastructure is further debilitating our handicap," she says. Adds P.M. Sinha, head of FICCI's Socio-Economic Development Foundation: "There is little sensitivity to the fact that the physically challenged are fully employable provided they are given training and physical facilities." Clearly, everyone is aware of the problem. It's here that a partnership between government and companies is required to ensure the transition of the differently abled into the mainstream.

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