NEW DELHI: For the last few months, central Delhi has been laid siege to by people with disabilities (PwDs). They are camping on the road and some are even on hunger strike against irregularities in their recruitment by the Indian Railways. The protest however, points to a deeper level of apathy towards PwDs.
People with disabilities (PwDs) constitute 2% of the country's total population, translating to 2.4 crore people. In the last few years, the government has rolled out several welfare and special schemes for PwDs to integrate them into the mainstream. These include several tax exemptions, low interest rates for bank loans, scholarships in professional courses and more.
But when it comes to job, there still exists a huge disparity between disabled and non-disabled population. Consider this: Compared to an all India labour force participation rate (LFPR) of 50.7%, people with disabilities (PwDs) have a LFPR of a mere 23.8%. Which means effectively over a crore are out of work force.
In 1995, India passed a law requiring Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) to hire 3% of their employees from the PwD segment. The cap was later increased to 4%. Despite this, integration of people with disabilities into the labor market remains woefully low.
A greater proportion of PwDs are left to fend for themselves and have to be theirRead More – Source
