Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry has partnered with Purple Fest.As part of the programme, ‘Exploring Employment Opportunities for Persons with Disability in the Corporate Sector’. Along with Labour and Employment department and Office of the State Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities in association with EnAble India a series of Purple Think Tank sessions to deliberate on employment opportunities in the Government and Private sectors.
The Office of the State Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities in association with EnAble India, an organization working towards livelihood of Persons with Disabilities (PwD), Bengaluru is organizing an exclusive session on Employment and Livelihood for Persons with Disabilities. This will take place on 7th January from 9 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. at Maquniez Audi 1, Entertainment Society of Goa, Panjim.
World Bank reports that in line with the global population 15% of India’s population (150 million+) are PwD and 64% in the working age are excluded from the labour force. The poverty rate for working-age PwD is nearly 2.5 times higher than non-disabled. Research finds that half of working age adults who experience at least one year of poverty and nearly two-thirds of those experiencing longer-term poverty have a disability.
President of GCCI, Ralph de Souza stresses, “The time has come, albeit late, but we are now extremely serious about utilising various companies across industries in Goa to employ potentially skilled workforce from among Persons with Disability. World over this inclusion is being incorporated, and it’s time we come together to create a society with professionals, where disability will not be a barrier to jobs.”
PwD in India face monumental challenges for livelihood in comparison with others. Estimated 9.9 million of 13.4 million (26 million total PwD – Govt. of India Census 2011) employable PwD population in India is unemployed. ‘Right of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016’ reserves 4% jobs in the government sector for PwD but livelihood achievement is unmet with only about 1% jobs being filled. Most employed PwDs are working as marginal workers in the manual sector. This calls for a drastic change in skill building and employment generation opportunities in India.
“It is a step in the desired direction to provide employability to Persons with Disability as Goa’s premier non-profit business, support services and networking organisation will take my mission forward in the corporate sector. I congratulate GCCI for partnering with Purple Fest and hope that PwD in Goa take benefit and gain skilful employment,” expresses Guruprasad Pawaskar, Commissioner for Persons with Disability.
Siddhart Kuncoliencar, Chairman of Sanjay Centre for Special Education is elated that Purple Fest is happening in Goa. “Besides this fest being organised in Goa, business persons, corporate representatives will realise the need to have inclusivity in their organisations. It’s a platform that can propel our talented and skilled Persons with Disability to be productive in society at a workplace and live a happy live. This is a welcome initiative by EnAble India and GCCI.”
Shanti Raghavan, Founder and Chief Enabler, EnAble India states that “This event will enable companies to visualise their own journey of hiring and inclusion of persons with disability and will help them realise the immense possibilities that can unfold.”
This is a critical step towards creating awareness for all towards enabling livelihoods for persons with disability. ILO estimates a GDP gap of 5-7% because of exclusion of PwDs from the economy. This GDP gap can be narrowed with a systematic approach where persons with disability earn, pay taxes, engage with the market and become active citizens and nation builders.
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