March in Gurugram sought jobs for the differently-abled on merit and not on compassionate grounds
Persons with disabilities participated in a march in Gurugram on Wednesday.Special Arrangement
Surender Kumar Mishra lost his right hand in a road accident a decade ago. An arts graduate, the 37-year-old resident of Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh has been running from pillar to post for several years now looking for a job but has been turned away each time because of his hand.
“I was an accountant with an outlet of a prominent Indian retail brand for almost five years. Despite being physically disabled, I worked faster than others but they asked me to leave when I sought a hike in salary. I have been looking for a job since then but in vain,” said Mr. Mishra, who has a family of four, including three children.
Paid less
He claimed that Persons With Disabilities (PwDs) are usually discriminated against and paid less by employers compared to others.
Mr. Mishra, who is now enrolled at Navjyoti, a skill development centre authorised by the Centre to impart training to PwDs under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), to learn computers and spoken English, was part of a march by PwDs in Cyber City on Wednesday to attract the attention of corporates to seek jobs. The march started at IFFCO Chowk and passed through Cyber City.
Navjyoti managing director Gurusharan Khurana said though students with hearing and speech impairment and those who were wheelchair-bound did not face much difficulty in getting jobs, it was particularly difficult for the visually-challenged to get placed.
“While those with hearing and speech impairment are hired by restaurants, persons who are wheelchair-bound or unable to walk handle reception. However, employers are reluctant to hire the visually-challenged,” said Mr. Khurana.
He added that the march was organised to attract the attention of the industry towards the plight of PwDs, especially the visually-challenged, and seek jobs for them based on their skill set.
Visually-challenged
“Our visually-challenged students can type at a speed of 30 words per minute and deal with customers over the phone. We urge the industry to provide them jobs on merit and not on compassionate grounds. We want every company to adopt at least one visually-challenged person and give them placement based on their skills,” said Mr. Khurana.
He added that if corporates give jobs to PwDs under the Corporate Social Responsibility programme, all the students will become independent and be able to feed their families.
“By donating we can feed one person. However, by providing jobs we feed the entire family. This is the message we gave to the industry through the march today [on Wednesday],” said Mr. Khurana.
He said the march passed through Cyber City as it houses the offices of some of the most prominent companies in the world.
Navjyoti manager operations Kanwal Verma said more than 700 students are enrolled at the centre for training and around 500 of them were visually-challenged.
“The first batch of 150 students has completed its over two-month course. The batch has 120 visually-challenged students but only 25 of them have got placements so far,” said Mr. Verma.
On the spot jobs
The march saw eight students get hired by private firm Brij Krishna on the spot.
“A few more companies have assured that they will come for interviews to hire our students. We will also drop mails to all major private firms to come for campus interviews and hire our students,” said Mr. Khurana.
Article Source: The Hindu