Sustained advocacy for promoting equality

NCPEDP applies a multi-pronged approach and works simultaneously on five core issues, namely Awareness, Access, Education, Employment and Legislation. In each of these areas NCPEDP has been able to make a considerable impact with its sustained and focused effort, which in turn, has led to increased awareness and opportunities.

A pioneering, cross-disability (covering all disabilities) organisation that takes the policy advocacy route to address the issue of employment. It was felt by the founders of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) that employment cannot be looked at in isolation. To be meaningfully employed one needs to be educated and qualified. Education is possible only when the schools, colleges and universities are accessible to people with disabilities. Access, therefore, is the foundation needed for the empowerment of disabled people - in India and elsewhere. Without access, neither education nor employment is possible. None of these three is possible without adequate legislation and policy. And for all the above four to materialise, awareness is essential. This is NCPEDP’s philosophy. NCPEDP works simultaneously on five core issues, namely Awareness, Access, Education, Employment and Legislation. In each of these areas NCPEDP has been able to make a considerable impact with its sustained and focused effort. The multi-pronged approach that NCPEDP applies to deal with the issue of disability employment includes networking with apex bodies such as industry chambers, architectural councils and lawyers’ associations, bringing NGOs/DPOs together and empowering them with information, conducting research, partnering with the media to build public opinion, and litigating and influencing policy makers. Some of the achievements relating to employment are: inclusion of disability on the agenda of the Confederation of Indian Industry and NASSCOM (association of IT companies) motivating companies to employ disabled people addressing discrimination in Indian Civil Services including a section on disability in XI Five-Year Plan advocating with the Government to frame a new law on disability in line with the CRPD

Solution, Innovation and Impact

NCPEDP’s work has influenced many stakeholders such as industry associations, DPOs, NGOs, policy makers, lawyers, media and architects, which in turn, has led to increased awareness and opportunities. Many initiatives have had spiralling and ripple effects. Hence, the measurement of the size of impact is difficult.