News

Volume 3 Issue 2 - January 15, 2005

Campaign for disabled people's recruitment in public service: Survey

DNIS News Network - Study reveals dismal state of employment of disabled people.

The only way of ensuring that more physically disabled people are being employed in public service is to sensitise them and launch a campaign in their favour, say researchers and consultants who recently conducted a survey on the employability of disabled people.

The non-implementation of the Persons with Disability Act of 1995 has left physically disabled people high and dry, according to this study. The study, conducted in Chennai and Coimbatore, found that though three 3 per cent reservation had been in place since 1977, only 0.23 per cent (about one 1 lakh people) held regular jobs over the last 40 years. The new economic policy and globalisation since 1992 also affected recruitment of the disabled.

Most physically disabled people get jobs only when they are 35-40 years and retire at 60, thus losing out on pension and gratuity benefits that come with long service. They are burdened with medical and transportation expenses and maintenance of dependents.

Recommendations

The study, which quotes the experiences of 82 respondents, said Central and State Government departments must update the list of posts, taking into consideration technological changes. Trade union leaders must be sensitised to the issues of physically disabled colleagues.

The unions must accommodate the interests of the physically disabled women and other marginalised sections. They should form a South Asian network of trade union leaders and non-governmental organisations working for the physically challenged persons to develop a campaign for recruiting more disabled people.

The study was conducted between November 2003 and March 2004 by representatives of the CARE Trust, the Public Services International the South Asia and South Asian Research and Development Initiative.

Findings at a glance

* Nearly 17 per cent of the employees in Central and State Government service surveyed said they were discriminated against in work allocation.

* Only 14 per cent of the physically disabled employees working in public service are women in Chennai. In Coimbatore , it is 13 per cent.

* Many were not members of any organisation working for disabled people.

The National Centre for Promotion of Employment of Disabled People (NCPEDP) Employment Unit has been instrumental in raising employment-related issues at various forums. The Employment unit spearheads NCPEDP's campaign to promote the employment of disabled people within corporate India. The unit regularly organises seminars to bring together corporates and disability organisations to help find a way to employ disabled people.

As a part of its drive to raise employment for disabled people, NCPEDP in association with Samsung has also launched a placement division. It actively identifies opportunities for people with disabilities and helps in placements. NCPEDP's website has a separate section on jobs for people with disability, at http://www.ncpedp.org/employ/placements/resumepost.php. Disabled candidates seeking jobs can post their resumes on the site. Any organisation seeking to employ disabled candidates can also put in the details of vacancies in this section.