The Government on Wednesday asked the India Inc to chalk out a time-bound action plan towards inclusion of the Persons with Disabilities (PWdS) who continue to face different range of challenges in the society in the absence of adequate basic facilities.
Speaking at a national conference on “Special Abilities- Breaking down the Barriers: Role of Industry” Thaawarchand Gehlot, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment urged the industry to come forward and map and upgrade skills of PwDs.
At the event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Minister also asked the corporate sector to support Government initiatives and especially look at providing assistive devices and medical assistance for the segment.
lov Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities suggested creation of an action plan with timelines and targets, towards inclusion while Mukesh Jain, Joint Secretary in the Ministry talked in detail about the three pillars of the Government’s Accessible India Campaign— accessibility of built environment, transport and technology.
Speaking at the event which was held with an objective of creating a momentum within the corporate sector towards building inclusive workplaces, Patu Keswani, Chairman, CII National Committee on Special Abilities stressed that hiring PwDs was not a matter of charity.
The advantages, he said, “range from increased productivity, reduced attrition rate, reduced absenteeism and a brand image of being an inclusive enterprise with
positive spin-off for all stakeholders.
“Creating inclusive workplace should be a top-down approach with dedicated resources to ensure inclusion. It is important that the top leadership of the company believes in mainstreaming PwDs and roll out sensitization programs to break myths.”
At the event a booklet on ‘Inclusion- Breaking down the Barriers’, developed by the CII, offering simple and easy steps for enabling inclusion of PwD in Corporate Sector was also released.
Earlier at an another event, Gehlot launched an exclusive job portal for PwDs where they can avail the different facilities such as self employment loan, education loan, skill training, link to scholarships and information about jobs in a single window platform through this National Job Portal.