2,000 disabled to be placed in IT/BPOs

BANGALORE: The Wadhwani Foundation on Thursday announced a tie-up with the NASSCOM in which the foundation would assist around 2,000 educated people with disabilities in getting placed in the IT/BPO and software industries around the country.In a press conference on Thursday, the foundation launched a ‘Web accessibility handbook’ which would provide insights to companies looking to provide information and communication technology accessibility for their disabled employees. “We at NASSCOM believe there are two ways to handle disability. The first being to integrate them into our work environment and the second being to leverage ICT technologies to get that done,” said President of NASSCOM Som Mittal.CEO of NASSCOM Foundation Rita Soni said, “We want to advocate this amongst smaller companies. There should also be more support from the government besides subsidies in provident funds.”“Companies must look at this as a business value proposition not corporate social responsibility. Three-four million disabled people in India have managed to get themselves educated inspite of an unfriendly system. This is a motivated talent pool,” said President of the Wadhwani Foundation Ajay Kela. He added that the foundation aims at placing 1,00,000 disabled individuals as part of their ‘Opportunity  Network for the Disabled’  initiative. The Wadhwani Foundation currently handles finances for the training and placement of the disabled candidates. They however want this to be taken over by corporates in the future. “The results they will get is much more, compared to the investment,” said Kela.