http://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/strategy-and-management/india-inc-lagging-behind-in-employing-disabled-staff/50022291 Even as Modi prepares to announce details of the Accessible India campaign on World Disability day, much of India Inc is still lagging behind in employing such talent.
ET Bureau | 03 December 2015, 9:54 AM IST . . MUMBAI:Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares to announce details of the Accessible India campaign on World Disability day on Thursday, much of India Inc is still lagging behind when it comes to employing such talent. Only 10 Nifty companies are sensitive to this issue, employing 90% of the 8,551 disabled employees working in the 50 companies in the index, according to data compiled by ETIG. Eight of them are public sector undertakings, with the country's largest lender State Bank of India employing 2,692 disabled people. IT biggies TCS and Wipro are the biggest private sector recruiters of such talent. Even the public sector companies fall short of the mandated reservation of 3% for persons with disability (PWD) in the work force. "We are slightly short of the number for filling up the quota. However, the situation has never been so bad for us to launch a special recruitment drive to hire the disabled," said Ashwini Mehra, deputy managing director and corporate development officer of State Bank of India. "Such talent displays more commitment to their jobs and after undertaking a competency mapping, we find them good at their performance," he added. The bank works with an NGO, Enable India, to identify suitable activities based on the nature of disability of the employee. It also undertakes workshops for its managers as well as peer level officials to sensitise them about working with talent with disabilities. Such intent though is still rare in India Inc. "There is a dire need for a firm anti-discrimination policy to be put in place that will make Indian companies accountable in employing PWDs," said Javed Abidi, honorary director, National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People. "While there is definitely an increase in awareness and sensitivity about disability among the public thanks to the media and judiciary politicians and bureaucrats have failed us. The public sector is falling woefully short of recruiting up to its quota of 3%. The state of recruitments in private sector is dismal," he added. He also expressed disappointment that industry bodies such as CII, Assocham, FICCI or Nasscom have not taken up this issue seriously. Service sectors like banking and IT have fair scope for jobs suitable for talent with disabilities. "The IT industry can start collaborating among themselves, partner with the right entities/NGOs and truly become the top recruiter for the disabled," a TCS spokesperson said. TCS has been intentionally hiring more such people since 2012. Others from industries like hospitality and retail such as Lemon Tree Hotels and Cafe Coffee Day have also been fairly successful in recruiting such talent. Lemon Tree Hotels employs 400 disabled employees, constituting 13% of its workforce. It plans to increase the headcount to 2,000 over the n -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
