Why are Right Intentions not Translating into Significant Outcomes?

In the recent past, disability inclusion has garnered greater significance. On the government side, Rights of People with Disability Act- 2016 (RPwD Act), Accessible India Campaign and various other welfare schemes and on the private front launch of the Purple Economy Pledge, Purple Dots platform, Jobs4Youth employment portals and other advocacy movements, have moved the needle for greater inclusion of people with disabilities (PwDs).

India Inc or corporate India has also gotten on the bandwagon for higher disability inclusion. Many corporations have taken small but sure steps towards making their workspaces more accessible and having clear equal employment opportunities. A few also have separate disability inclusion employment policies.

At this stage, it is fair to say that the policy intent for greater inclusion of PwDs is well documented. More and more stakeholders are advocating for giving people with disabilities equal employment opportunities.

The Capital P Lab analyzed the publicly available employment data and other initiatives (latest Annual reports, Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reports, Employment Policies and CSR initiatives) of 20 leading publicly listed corporations in India. The outcome of the analysis showcased some interesting facts:

Only a handful have more than 1% representation of PwD’s in their workforce. The representation of PwD women is almost negligible.

Table: Representation of PwD’s as part of workforce

Source: The Capital P Lab analysis

An interesting and replicable model that came to light is ITC's Mangaldeep Sixth Sense initiative. It employs visually impaired individuals as specialized fragrance testers. Launched in 2021 by ITC’s incense brand Mangaldeep, the program utilizes the enhanced olfactory (sense of smell) capabilities of visually impaired participants to test, review, and refine incense fragrances, dhoop sticks, cones, sambrani cups, and flora agarbattis. 

The policy intent of most companies is strong. Almost all the 20 companies have:

• Equal Opportunity / Equal Employment Opportunity policies

• Accessibility provisions

• Anti-discrimination commitments

• Disability inclusion initiatives

Disability empowerment a widely adopted thematic area for CSR initiatives

Most of the 20 analyzed organizations have a strong focus and run programs for disability empowerment as part of their CSR initiatives. Skilling, vocational training, capacity building, sensitization, schemes enrollment, promoting nano entrepreneurs etc. are various initiatives supported by these organizations.

The analysis reaffirms the fact that the right intentions are definitely in place, however they are failing to deliver employment outcomes. The reasons for this gap can be many - lack of skilled employees, social stigma, lack of training and knowledge to accommodate PwD’s, non-existent tailor- made job descriptions, lack of stricter employment mandates, lack of accessible infrastructure or merely the lack of a lens that sees PwD’s as equal.

Therefore, if there has been an increasing acknowledgement in recent years of people with disabilities being important contributors to the economy, what then is needed to expedite the change towards an increase in their representation on employee portals? Which stakeholder from the entire ecosystem needs to do the maximum weight-lifting? Keep watching this space as we delve further to find answers to these questions.