Inclusion of specially-abled people in mainstream economy

We often come across people who are specially-abled and some of us even have specially-abled people in our families. What we mostly do is that we look at them with sympathy and the society even has a term (mentally/physically challenged) to describe this group of people, which, I think, is quite derogatory and a discriminatory way of defining them. The fact that we look at these people with pity is not the right approach, rather we need to come up with ideas to include specially-abled people in the mainstream society and create opportunities for them to be a part of the mainstream economy so that they can also contribute to the economic growth of the country and gain financial freedom for themselves.

Disability is a worldwide phenomenon. According to the World Report of Disability, around 15 per cent of the global population have some kind of disabilities whereas government estimates in our country say that there are nearly 16 lakh 30 thousand disabled people in the country against an independent estimation of around 17–25 million. Allowance system for these people are in practice. The government provides an allowance of Tk 750 per month to about a million people with disabilities wherein about 90,000 disabled people are getting education stipend (that ranges from Tk 700-Tk2,000). But, giving stipend to these people is not the solution and cannot be the ultimate option since this is not a viable alternative.

Instead, we need to focus on empowering them and devise proper plans for their economic inclusion. The first step is to create job opportunities for specially-abled people. According to information revealed in a survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, only 53.6 per cent of men with disabilities were employed. Most of these people are not given jobs according to their qualifications, rather they are being employed for some technical reasons or only in desk/clerical jobs. Here comes the question of preparing specially-abled people with the right set of skills so that they get the right jobs in accordance with their qualifications.

If we really want to include specially-abled people into the mainstream economy, we need to prepare them for the real world. In our country, access to education is a tough battle for the parents who have specially-abled children. If these children are not given the opportunity to access education just like other normal children, then how will they feel normal and gather the courage to compete with others in the real world? Even if some of them are provided with educational facilities, the importance of equipping them with the right set of skills remains ignored. In reality, every specially-abled child comes with some specialties. We need to explore those and work on those so that they can brush up those skills and explore decent work opportunities based on those fine skills.

Moreover, as a society, we need to be more sensible and behave more responsibly when it comes to creating economic opportunities for the specially-abled people. Most of the time, it is seen that corporate houses and private organizations show reluctance while recruiting people with disabilities. Despite the fact that there is a provision of compulsory 10 per cent job quota for people with disabilities and orphans in the private sector, it is not implemented in most of the organizations. I know at least dozens of organizations where not even a single specially-abled person is employed. It points to our reluctance to employ these people. This mindset must be changed and everyone should be more considerate, especially those working in different leadership positions of the private organizations.

Inclusion of specially-abled people in the mainstream economy is now more important than ever before. Bangladesh has qualified for LDC graduation. At a time when we are going through a transition phase and looking forward to better economic prospects, we cannot go ahead if we leave this huge population behind and exclude them from economic integration. Moreover, their economic inclusion is also significant for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as some of the goals clearly call for actions to create opportunities for the specially-abled people and ensure decent work opportunities for them.

However, if we really want to empower specially-abled people, we will have to begin the process right from their childhood. And in order to truly empower the specially-abled children, we need to empower their parents first. To empower them, we need to understand and talk about the mental trauma these parents go through and make them realize that every child is gifted and special in their own ways. Part of the tension comes from an anxious feeling stemming from the uncertainty over their future. Parents need to inculcate it in their heads that everyone comes with some abilities, we just need to figure it out and focus on nurturing those. If those abilities are being directed towards the right directions, inclusion of specially-abled people in the mainstream economy will no more remain a pipedream.

More public-private partnerships are needed to raise awareness about the significance of economic emancipation of specially-abled people. Different sessions and seminars can be arranged at the national levels to motivate both the parents and the employers. In the meantime, the government needs to take more concrete actions other than just providing allowances and stipends. An endeavor accompanied by corresponding policies to institutionalize the practice of creating job opportunities for PWD (Persons with Disabilities) can be the way forward. Moreover, we need to talk about the stigmas and stereotypes associated with this group of people, who mostly remain out of the social radar despite their qualities and abilities.

The writer is a communications professional. He can be contacted at malammohabbat@gmail.com