Helping disabled get jobs

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: “Placements with a difference,” will be an appropriate way to summarise the work of non-governmental organisations such as Association of People with Disability (APD), Enable India and the Mitra Jyoti Charitable Trust.

These NGOs pride themselves in finding jobs and placing disabled persons, who are either blind, deaf, mute, polio afflicted or affected by cerebral palsy, in mainstream companies in Bangalore.

The Disabled Persons Act of 1995 stipulates that government departments and public sector undertakings reserve 3 per cent of their posts for disabled persons.

However, several private companies still shy away from hiring the disabled and the placements centres of NGOs provide the much needed link between persons with disabilities and the professional world.

Contacts

“There are plenty of jobs in companies that a blind, deaf, mute or polio-afflicted person can do. But it is difficult for a disabled person to approach employers directly, as he inevitably gets rejected. We use our contacts in the industry to get the disabled persons placed,” says Shanti, founder of Enable India.

“Disabled persons add a lot of value to the company. Other employees learn to be more accepting, feel more enriched and inspired in the presence of a disabled colleague. A disabled employee provides a much-needed diversity in thought and action in the workplace. After all, innovation stems from this diversity,” adds Ms. Shanti.

Training

The APD started its career guidance and placement unit nearly six years ago and over the past year, has found jobs for 85 persons with disabilities.

“Some people who come to us have completed their schooling or degree. But for those who haven’t, we have a vocational training centre, where we offer courses in computers, industrial training, physiotherapy, office management and horticulture, at the end of which the disabled persons are equipped with the basic skills they require to work,” says Joseph D’Souza, placement officer at APD.

The call centre business is also a viable option when it comes to employing disabled persons and the APD and Enable India have call centre-training courses for the disabled.

Mission

Mitra Jyoti Charitable Trust has also found jobs for blind persons in the field of medical transcription, and several disabled persons have got jobs as factory workers.

“When disabled persons approach us, we first find out what kind of job they want to do and draft a resume. Then we give them pre-placement guidance, where we tell them how to give an interview, explain the importance of work ethics, respecting a superior, coming on time and meeting deadlines. Working in a professional environment will be a completely new experience and we try to make the transition as easy as possible,” explains Madhu Singhal, who works with the trust.

http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/13/stories/2005061301730400.htm