Inclusion need of the hour, say entrepreneurs with disabilities

NEW DELHI: Experts working with entrepreneurs with disabilities held a digital conference earlier this month, where they stressed on the need to focus on challenges specific to the community.

The virtual conference — titled Business Beyond Barriersempowering Entrepreneurs with Disabilities — was held on February 6 by Alliance To Promote Abilities and Rehabilitation (ATPAR), Network of Entrepreneurs with Disabilities for Assistance and Rehabilitation (NEDAR), National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), and the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC). The conference aimed at highlighting the contribution of disabled entrepreneurs and address the challenges faced by them.

Thilakam Rajendran, founder of ATPAR, which works on entrepreneurship for persons with disabilities across India, said that the community was invisible despite having the same dreams and contributions as other entrepreneurs.

“It is time we move beyond perception blocks. All stakeholders should come together to enable and empower through convergence and inclusion to recognise their contributions and make them visible,” he said.

Lack of financial inclusion, support and acknowledgment from the entrepreneurial ecosystem have proved to be the major challenges for the field, the experts said. They also said that world over, participation of persons with disabilities in employment is lesser than those without disabilities.

Around 2,000 attendees were present for the national conference, which included stakeholders from ministries, industry associations, corporates, and banking and skilling sector.

Arman Ali, executive director, NCPEDP pointed out that disability could no longer be a barrier for people to be a part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and to do business.

To boost entrepreneurial options in the community, ATPAR also launched a business directory of NEDAR members. NEDAR was started in 2019 by ATPAR and currently has over 100 member-entrepreneurs and an online store — called “ATPAR Mall” on the Instamojo platform to sell products of entrepreneurs with disabilities.

“It takes an effort for us to explain that they have created an identity for themselves beyond just being persons with disabilities and today among many other identities they are artisans, artists, self-employed and entrepreneurs with disabilities who have carved a niche in conducting their business beyond barriers and are also contributors to the society,” the directory states in the preface.

EXPERTS SAID DISABILITY COULD NO LONGER BE A BARRIER FOR PEOPLE TO BE A PART OF THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM