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Private sector wakes up to the cause of employment

By Sakshi Broota

With increased of industries in India, the role of the corporate sector in generating job opportunities is increasing. Employment in the government and the public sector seem to be shrinking constantly. For many years now and especially after passage of the Persons with Disabilities Act (1995), there has been a continuous campaign for sensitising the corporate sector to take on active responsibility in recognising the abilities of disabled people and giving them equal opportunities in the job market.

The Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 mandates that: “The appropriate Governments and the local authorities shall, within the limits of their economic capacity and development, provide incentives to employers both in public and private sectors to ensure that at least five per cent of their work force is composed of persons with disabilities.”

The incentives have still not been spelt out and the provision remains on paper. Therefore, National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (N.C.P.E.D.P.) conducted a survey in 1999 of the top 100 companies in India to study the employment practices vis-à-vis disabled people. It revealed that most companies do not employ any disabled person. The average employment rate of disabled people in the private sector was only 0.28 percent. The public sector showed an employment rate of 0.54 percent. Worse still, the percentage of persons with disabilities in multinational companies in the country was a mere 0.05 percent It is interesting to note that many other countries have worked out definite policies for promoting employment of disabled people in their country. Strict laws for employing disabled people and making barrier-free work environments bind the industries in these countries. However, when these companies come to India, these rules are conveniently forgotten.

With this research as the basis, N.C.P.E.D.P. started a campaign to make the private sector accountable to India’s 70 million disabled people. Among other strategies, N.C.P.E.D.P. began an earnest dialogue with top corporate associations like Confederation of Indian Industry (C.I.I.), Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (F.I.C.C.I.), Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), National Association of Software & Service Companies (NASSCOM), PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry (P.H.D.C.C.I) and Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (O.P.P.I.). The last few years have seen many workshops, conferences and meetings with different groups with the hope that the sector would formulate policies and issue guidelines to its member corporations to employ disabled persons.

The first and the only corporate association to come up with a concrete step in this direction has been C.I.I. In April 2003, C.I.I. announced the constitution of the core group on disability. The core group is being chaired by Ms. Chanda Singh, Executive Vice Chairman Indfos Industries Ltd, with members from the industry, media and disability N.G.O.s. Mr Javed Abidi, Executive Director, N.C.P.E.D.P., is also a member of the core group. The group will play a pioneering role in sensitising the corporate sector on various issues related to disability. The initiative needs to see disabled citizens not only as a large, able workforce but also as the consumers of the goods and services produced by the industry. Therefore, the group will work out strategies for a multi-pronged approach. Their strategy will include:

• Increasing awareness about the abilities of disabled people, especially within the corporate sector.
• Facilitating equipping disabled people with skills and other competencies.
• Advocating for new policies for access, education and legal requirements of disabled people .

The core group on disability in C.I.I. has already held two meetings since is formation in April 2003: the first in May 2003 in New Delhi and the second in September 2003. The core group decided to work on three areas of concern – access, education and employment of disabled people. It has already started working on access and employment. The group will create a database of corporate involvement, send information and awareness material and provide guidelines for creating a barrier-free environment to its top hundred member companies. In addition, it will request its member companies to add a line in their recruitment advertisements, welcoming disabled candidates to apply.

This may appear a drop in the ocean, but a beginning has been made in the right direction. Other corporate associations and each member industry needs to actively contribute to formulate policies and implement the provision of equal opportunities disabled people. C.I.I. has taken the first and crucial step towards creating an environment where all citizens, as per their ability, are able to contribute to the nation's development and also reap the fruits of the developments.

Sakshi Broota is a consultant in the area of disability.

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