Title: Employment and People with Disabilities in India Setting the Context
1Employment and People with Disabilities in India
Setting the Context
- Philip OKeefe
- World Bank
- August 2008, Bangalore
2Low employment rates of PWD are a common
international phenomenon
3For India, PWD employment rates are much lower
than the general population and fell in 1990s
4The fall relative to general population was in
nearly all states but more sharply in some
5Employment rates vary sharply by type of
disability
6PWD employment rates are lower than the general
population at all educational levels
7Caring demands also reduce the work time of other
adults in HH
8Once working, PWD work around the same amount as
others
9What does Indian and international evidence
suggest is needed and possible ?
- Attitudes first and foremost, of employers,
families, and PWD themselves - Explore how UN Convention commitments can best be
met - Prohibit discrimination on the basis of
disability with regard to all matters concerning
all forms of employment, including conditions of
recruitment, hiring and employment, continuance
of employment, career advancement and safe and
healthy working conditions -
- Protect the rights of persons with disabilities,
on an equal basis with others, to just and
favourable conditions of work, including equal
opportunities and equal remuneration for work of
equal value, safe and healthy working conditions,
including protection from harassment, and the
redress of grievances
10What does Indian and international evidence
suggest is needed and possible ?
- Think about more diverse set of incentives for
employers to meet Convention obligations - Promote the employment of PWD in the private
sector through appropriate policies and measures,
which may include affirmative action programmes,
incentives and other measures. - ..ensure that reasonable accommodation is
provided to persons with disabilities in the
workplace.
11What does Indian and international evidence
suggest is needed and possible ?
- Internationally, quotas for employment of PWD
have not been terribly effective, even in rich
countries. - in most countries, the tide is swinging away
from quotas either for their total abandonment
(as in the UK), or for other measures (active
employment support for individuals or stronger
discrimination laws). - The main variant of the straight quota system is
the so-called quota-levy system, whereby
employers can pay a contribution to an earmarked
fund in lieu of employing PWD up to their quota
obligation.
12What does Indian and international evidence
suggest is needed and possible ?
- OECD trend towards anti-discrimination/equal
opportunities legislation PLUS range of public
and private sector initiatives to make it a
reality - Example of the UK Combines general AD
legislation with specific PWD discrimination
legislation and strong emphasis on codes of
conduct
13What does Indian and international evidence
suggest is needed and possible ?
- UK Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (amended
2005) allows for positive duty of the State to
promote inclusion of PWD and positive
discrimination in employment, in particular,
employers a duty to make reasonable
adjustments to make sure PWD not put at a
substantial disadvantage by employment
arrangements or any physical feature of the
workplace. - allocating some of your work to someone else
- transferring to another post or another place of
work - making adjustments to the buildings
- being flexible about work hours - allowing you to
have different core working hours and to be away
from the office for assessment, treatment or
rehabilitation - providing training
- providing modified equipment
- making instructions and manuals more accessible
- providing a reader or interpreter
14What does Indian and international evidence
suggest is needed and possible ?
- Many exciting initiatives in India also with
strong private sector and NGO involvement - 3 major channels (though nearly all org. sector
to date) - Government remains critical e.g. social
insurance exemptions. What is a reasonable and
enforceable set of incentives for employers ? How
to overhaul existing models like NHFDC ? - Civil society/DPOs Matching PWD skills and
employer demand (macro and micro), e.g. skill
mapping Partner for Change job melas - ADAPT
EmployAbility Chennai. - Make it commercial - for corporates, moving from
only CSR to hard business decisions in hiring,
with support of commercial HR sector (e.g.
Anubhuti). Moving from points of light to
standard practice.
15BUT.
- The rural and unorganized economy remains largely
outside the emerging channels. What models for
that ? Examples but more is needed to understand
what can work - AP IKP PWD SHGs
- CBR which builds on attitudinal change