Feature
Volume 5 Issue 2 - January 15, 2007
Are we blind to seeing ‘ability’ in ‘disability’?
T. Muralidharan, alumnus of I.I.M., and A. Rohit Shenoy,
alumnus of Cardiff Business School, U.K., in this article, focus on the urgent
need to recognise the abilities of disabled people and opening avenues so they
can compete on the same platform as the rest of society.
Richard Pimental, a renowned American keynote speaker and an expert
on disability management had once quoted – “There are no good jobs for people
with disabilities in your company, but there is a good person with a disability
for every job in your company”.
Corporates in
India
now seem to be waking up to
this idea. Not only corporate giants like I.B.M. but also our very own N.T.P.C.
have been setting the trend by creating employment opportunities for people
with disabilities (P.W.D.s) within their
organisations. I.B.M. employed its first physically challenged worker as early
as 1914, while N.T.P.C. has been doing so for over a decade now.
The point we are
getting at is that there needs to be a change of perception towards P.W.D.s. Leading the pack once again, is I.B.M. As
explained by Joe Mullich in Hiring
with-out Limits, I.B.M. does not hire P.W.D.s ‘to be nice’, it does so because it is right for the business.
It is the beauty
of creation that disability in one of the body functions is compensated by an
increased capability in another. Visually challenged people for instance, have
an amazing sense of hearing, touch and smell. Paraplegic people are usually
very creative and their concentration levels and attention to detail is
unmatched. So rather than looking at P.W.D.s as
‘challenged’ in one aspect, we need to look at them as ‘specially talented’ in another. I.B.M., which was facing difficulties in hiring people
skilled in the dying art of precision machining, found their solution in the
National Technical Institute for the Hearing Impaired in the
U.S.
I.B.M. is
implementing a small fraction of the avenues available for P.W.D.s
and reaping the benefits. But there are numerous other avenues still left to be
explored. Non Governmental Organisations (N.G.O.s)
have over the years been building sustainable employment options for P.W.D.s, the most common of them being the selling of
handicrafts made by P.W.D.s commercially. Paraplegic
people for instance can be trained to perform data entry and call-centre
responsibilities. The possibilities are vast but the implementation is still at
a concept stage. Corporates need to take the
initiative here by building their business models and incorporating training
programmes as well as employment options for P.W.D.s.
One of the
realities faced by the recruitment industry is that ‘stability’ is as important
as ‘ability’. P.W.D.s are a
perfect mix of both. A survey conducted in 2004 proved that workers with
disabilities were more punctual, loyal and regular, as compared to their
counterparts. Complement this with the fact that they are naturally resilient
and adaptable, and you have with you, a diverse workforce with traits that can
contribute significantly to the company’s growth.
We do not need a
‘Disability Law’ enforced upon us to ensure that we hire P.W.D.s.
All we need is a little insight and more than a little foresight – An insight
into their ability and foresight of their potential. But much needs to be done
to realise this vision. Accommodating the disabled needs a big improvement in
the basic infrastructure of our organisations. As explained by Peter Verhoeven in his recently published article, employment and
accessibility go hand in hand and corporate
India
needs to realise the benefits
of making their offices disabled-friendly. The article further reveals the fact
that websites are increasing the digital divide through lack of accessibility.
Given below is an excerpt from the article:
“Most websites do not meet the minimum
criteria set out in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (W.C.A.G.).
According to a UN-commissioned survey most websites
are ostracising disabled people by failing to adhere to the most basic
accessibility standards.”
The study was
launched following the International Day of Disabled Persons, 3rd
December, which focused on the theme of e-accessibility this year. It examined
100 leading sites across five sectors and 20 countries, measuring them against
the W.C.A.G.
For now, we can
take a step at a time and begin with creating increased employment
opportunities for P.W.D.s. The ‘Employability 2006’,
conducted in Chennai recently is one such initiative. Organised by the Ability
Foundation, in association with industry body C.I.I. and Lions Club Padi-Shenoy Nagar, it is already
into its third year since inception. ‘Employability’ is a job fair aimed at
providing employment opportunities for the disabled and creating a platform for corporates to reach out to them.
The number of corporates participating in the fair increased from 32 in
the first year to 69 this year, Ability Foundation founder Jayashree
Raveendran said.
The first year
saw 600 disabled people take part and this number went up to 1,100 from 13
states this year.
Clearly, we are
headed in the right direction and a little synergy is all that we need to keep
the momentum going. Soon, we can expect to be in a phase where People with
Disabilities compete on the same platform as the rest of us with no special focus
or attention required to help their cause.
(Source: The Hindu dated
03 January 2007
)