National Abilympics 2019 ends on high note with 21 promising PwDs winning big

On Nov 18, 2019

New Delhi, 18th Nov 2019: Encouraging the idea of celebrating life with all its challenges, the 6th edition of National Abilympics & 6th National Conference on Disability held at the AICTE campus in the Capital saw huge participation of persons with disabilities (PwDs) competing with their vocational skills and underscoring their potential for employment across the industry spectrum.

The National Abilympics witnessed the talent and competitive spirit of PwDs on such a massive scale with 21 promising PwDs winning big at the National Abilympics to be held in Russia in 2020. The Nationals saw 4 participants winning Gold, 8 Silver and 9 Bronze in various categories like E- Sports Gaming, Desktop Publishing, Bakery, Floral Arrangement, and Cooking.

The event hosted by the National Abilympics Association of India (NAAI), under the aegis of Sarthak Educational Trust with the support of The Hans Foundation, was an eye-opener with national competitions, Job Fairs for PwDs and hard-hitting discourses on the self-sustainability of PwDs in the country. Over the years, Sarthak has trained and secured lucrative placement for over 16,000 PWDs across the industry segments through its 18 centres in India.

The highlight of the event was the Job Fair for the PwDs which attracted country’s renowned brands like Flipkart, KFC, Make My Trip, Reliance Fresh, IHG, Hindustan Unilever, Sodexo, FedEx, Amazon and more conducted a drive to hire PwDs. The day long event saw a number of 1000+ footfalls coming along with families and around 600+ PwD Job applicants and 450 selected for prospective Jobs by 21 corporates. The 150th edition of the National Job Fair for Persons with Disabilities provided an excellent platform for PwDs seeking recruitments in different job roles in varied sectors with the support of Corporate Partners. This facilitated with cross-learning, Ideation and Planning for furthering the prospects of Employment of PwDs.

Mr. Krishan Kalra, President, NAAI opined, “Sarthak and NAAI have been trying to highlight the issue that nearly 30 million PWDs in the country are in the need for empowerment and jobs and for not charity and sympathy. There are many jobs that they can do as well as any other person; today’s event should be of great help in the endeavour”.

Senior Manager, Tamanna Wadhwa from FedEx, “Today’s, response was very good. We have just recently started recruiting the Divyangs. We largely engage people for on field courier jobs, even Orthopaedically handicap we do hire, who can ride a bike soundly. Salary is as per industry standards and we do not differentiate”. “We have 130+ jobs in Data entry, warehouse, senior assistant and more. We are looking at hiring 70+ candidates from North zone this financial year”, shared Mr. Deepak Thakre, Talent Acquisition Partner, Flipkart.

One of the candidate, Hearing Impaired Jehangir Manzoor from Kashmir but now relocated to Noida shared, “I am looking at jobs in hospitality sector and met IHG, KFC, Costa Coffee today. I am hopeful that I get a job here, and they pay well. As my earlier recruiter, one of the biggest pizza retail chains didn’t well so am looking for a change”. Delhi based Shiva Ahuja, Orthopaedically Handicapped Economics Graduate Candidate aims to get a job in the Government sector, but secured a job at KFC in the customer service department since he wants to earn money at the moment for his family. Shiv is 25 years old and suffered a stroke 10 yrs back.

“Funding, inflow of funding/CSR funding, FDI as well, focus on goals, choosing entrepreneurship as a career, training of trainers, empowering NGO’s, single window approvals at Govt bodies” are the key parameters that can help survive the ecosystem and the upliftment of Divyangjan of the country”, shared Dr. Dr. Jitender Aggarwal, Founder & CEO of Sarthak Educational Trust at the launch of Rashtriya Divyang Sashaktikaran Manch a composite master portal, www.sarthakindia.org for all social needs catering to Divyangs to be addressed through the online search engine.