Key Points
Diversity conversations may have entered the boardrooms, but when it comes to inclusion of people with disabilities (PwDs) in the workforce, corporate India still has a long road ahead...
As per an analysis of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)-mandated Business Responsibility and Sustainability reports filed by 1,062 listed companies for 2022/2022-23, more than 87% of them said their workplaces were accessible to people with disabilities..
However, only 0.6% of permanent workers they employed were PwDs...
Companies dont want to invest in skilling, training, etc., they want quick fixes and therein lies a problem, said Vineet Saraiwala, founder of Atypical Advantage, an inclusive livelihood platform which claims to have helped place more than 1,000 PwDs across 100 companies in the last three years..
If your internal systems are not accessible, for instance, there is no screen-reader software, then youre ruling out a large chunk of PwDs who are visually challenged, he said.. Pallavi Pareek, chief executive of Ungender, a DEI technology firm that advises companies on improving their diversity quotient, said the poor PwD representation is as much about the mindset...
