DfID-UK, Skill Council for Persons with Disabilities (SCPwD) and v-shesh organize workshop on disability confidence

Ahmedabad : India has a population of 2.68 crore Persons with Disabilities (Census 2011). Out of which approximately 1.34 crore are in the employable age of 15 to 59 years. As per the National Action Plan, India intends to train 25 lakh youth by 2022. However, employment of skilled PwDs in industry is a challenge due to lack of sensitization and mapping of disability specific job roles in the industry. The Department for International Development (DfID)-Government of United Kingdom, Skill Council for Persons with Disabilities (SCPwD)  and v-shesh hosted a workshop on #DisabilityConfidence at Workplace along with the employers at The Lemon Tree Hotel, Ahmedabad on December 21, 2018.

Key areas of discussions during the workshop were (i) barriers in recruitment (ii) how Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 is an opportunity to improve HR practices and (iii) range of equal opportunities good practices for workplace. With sharp focus on addressing barriers (rather than impairment), the participants shared their experiences, learning and discussed practical solution relevant to the situations they face as employers or job seekers.

More than 15 employers and 40 participants from sectors like IT Business Processing, Financial Services, Hospitality& Retail, Manufacturing and others participated. The workshop ensured accessibility for all by providing sign language interpretation, material in alternate formats, etc. Persons with Disabilities who are employed in corporate sector and are seen as role models provided job seeker’s perspective. The workshop format was highly interactive, engaging the participants through online mobile app based quiz, empathy building activities and case studies.

MrAnup K Srivastava, CEO- Skill Council for Persons with Disabilities (ScPwD) touched upon the role of ScPwD in skilling of Persons with Disabilities in India and emphasized upon the need for creating inclusive work culture with accessibility and acceptability. Mr. Geoff Wain, Deputy High Commissioner UK for Gujarat & Rajasthan highlighted that disability inclusion us central to UK Government’s skill mission and the partnership with Government if India & other organizations will continue to receive high priority. Ms KaustubhiHarit, Specialist Skills and Inclusion, Department for International Development (DfID) highlighted how ecosystem level efforts in accessibility, inclusive education, policy – all have led to mainstreaming of disability inclusion initiatives. With that perspective DfID has launched multiple pilot initiatives to catalyze action towards accelerated recruitment across industry sectors. Mr P Rajasekharan, Co-founder of v-shesh said that this workshop was intended as a platform for employers to share their experience, learn from each other and understand job seeker’s perspective which will go a long way in paving the path for accelerating hiring and inclusion of Persons with disability.

Team from Blind People’s Association did a live demonstration on how a fully blind person can seamlessly work in mainstream roles in IT / other sectors.Employers were from various stages in term of their journey of inclusion – with most of them at an early stage All the employers felt there were big takeaways from the workshop, the feedback was that pointers received from the experiences employers were practical and can be quickly implemented. This kind of access to best practices and open dialogue sharing information is crucial for companies to move to next level in their respective journeys of inclusion.