New Delhi

Disabled press for incentive policy

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JUNE 8. Aimed at promoting employment opportunities for the differently-abled in the private sector, the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People has prepared a "Draft Incentive Policy". The non-government organisation is hoping to present the policy to the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, on Wednesday.

"Even eight years after the Disability Act was passed, incentives for the private sector to encourage them to add the differently-abled to their workforce have not been announced. Under Section 41 of the Disability Act 1995, incentives have to be provided to the public and private sector to ensure that at least five per cent of their workforce is composed of persons with disabilities. So after extensive discussion, we have prepared a draft incentive policy that we would be sharing with the Government. It is unbelievable that less than one per cent of the disabled population in India is employed while in China, that follows the system of incentives, 70 per cent of the disabled population is part of the workforce," said convenor Disability Right Group, Javed Abidi, at a press conference here today.

To prepare the report, various stakeholders - including people from the private sector and people from the disability sector - were involved. Employment policies for disabled people in select European countries and existing incentive policies to the corporate sector in India were studied. A `think tank' was then constituted that worked in a participatory manner to prepare the report.

"We did not want a quota system that would compromise merit. We are asking for a level playing field. We don't want preferential treatment but we want to make sure that no one discriminates against those who are disabled. Many a time people have been rejected on the basis of their disability and not because of they are not good enough," said Mr. Abidi.

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