Jobs few and far between for the differently abled in corporate India

The second part of the series on affirmative action in India Inc finds persons with disabilities account for less than 0.6 per cent of the workforce

Preeti Monga, who is differently abled, recalls looking for a job to support herself many years ago. She managed a position in a food company’s sales team. The company offered her Rs 4.50 for every bottle of pickle she could sell. She managed to offload more than the rest of the sales team combined and the company promptly promoted her.

Such employment stories are, however, rare for persons with disabilities. Despite an improvement in employment over the past three years, persons with disabilities face workplace infrastructure and prejudice challenges.

An analysis of India’s top 100 companies shows that the proportion of such personnel in corporate India is less than 0.6 per cent as of the last financial year, based on 52 companies for whom comparable data was available over the past three years. However, the number of persons with disabilities that the companies under consideration employed went up from 7,814 in 2015-16 to 9,412 in 2017-18. The proportionate increase only shows a marginal improvement from 0.52 per cent to 0.58 per cent over the same period.

“On one hand there are few companies, particularly multinational ones and, on the other, some of the more progressive, newer Indian companies are coming forward and even contacting non-governmental organisations to recruit people with disabilities,” says Prashant Ranjan Verma, general secretary of the National Association for the Blind.

But, firms require people with good communication skills, which is difficult for many to develop because of limited interactions. Also, companies look for people with specific skills. Verma says the differently abled often do not have the training for such vacancies and since many have average education, they are employable but not necessarily for highly-skilled jobs. Companies are still not open to such employees since it would involve having to make changes to their physical and technological infrastructure to facilitate them, he adds.

Skilling too remains a challenge. Census data shows that only 5 per cent of the disabled population were graduates or above. However, 55 per cent were literate, suggesting they could be employed in less skilled jobs if sufficient infrastructure was in place. Even firm, looking to hire persons with disabilities, express preferences for those who are easier to integrate into their workplaces.

Monga, who is visually impaired, recalls how one global technology company asked her not to give them “a visually impaired candidate”. The visually impaired form 19 per cent of the total disabled population, according to Census numbers. This makes them the biggest segment after those having a disability in movement (20 per cent). Another 19 per cent have a disability in hearing and 8 per cent multiple disabilities. India seems to be under-reporting its disability numbers at 2.21 per cent of the population. The global rate is closer to 15 per cent, according to the World Health Organization. With disparities in official figures, the true extent of unemployment may never be known.

But, even Census data shows that most do not find employment, with around 64 per cent not classified as workers. More than 50 per cent of the working disabled population was involved in agriculture-related fields. This is particularly true for women, where only 23 per cent of the disabled population was working, compared with 47 per cent for men. This also seems to be the case elsewhere in the world, according to a UN publication ‘Disability at a Glance 2015’.

“Women with disabilities are doubly discriminated against. Employment rates for women with disabilities are significantly lower than those for men in most Asian and Pacific countries where statistics are available,” it said. But people like Monga are hopeful. “The world will want us. Who doesn't want a good employee?" she says. 

Tomorrow: Women in workforce