Why is DICCAI needed in India?


The latest Census data of India shows that out of the total population, roughly 2.2 percent of the population i.e. 2.68 crore persons are “disabled”. Of this only 36% of the disabled population (which is approximately 98lakh) are employed, including 71 lakh men and 27lakh women. The brunt of disability seems to have heavily fallen on women as amongst disabled women; the literacy rate is only 45% whereas the overall women literacy rate in India is 65%. Amongst disabled men, the literacy rate is 62%. Less than 10 percent disabled people have a graduate degree, making meaningful employment even more difficult for them, rendering them suitable only for menial or low paying jobs.

Impact on economy: Ignoring the potential of PWD’s can cost any nation highly. It is estimated that by 2022, the number of PWD’s in India would cross 1 crore. If appropriate steps like training skills, education and employment is not provided and this entire population is left out of the economy, it roughly translates to a whopping loss of 5-7% of GDP.

Currently, there is NOT A SINGLE ORGANISATION LIKE DICCAI, which brings together disabled persons, industry, the education sector, skill development and training on a single platform to work in unison towards the cause of empowering PWD’s.

Our Areas of Work

  1. Continued and adult education support for PWDs
  2. Skill development courses
  3. Training for job related skills, workshops 
  4. Assisting in obtaining scholarships for students with disabilities
  5. Facilitating sponsorships for research and development for ideas, products by PWDs
  6. Setting up a cell to promote entrepreneurial spirit amongst PWDs. 
  7. Encourage disabled sports persons through sponsorships for training/competitions.
  8. Providing information on available government schemes for PWDs
  9. Establishing small "bachat" groups of PWDs and helping them find markets in India and abroad to sell their products.

Sponsoring and encouraging research on the demographic, socio-political, economic, physical aspects of disabled population as well as into products and services meant to enable them

Proposed Structure

DICCAI would be run by a governing council that would include its founding members as well as experts from the industry and disabled persons with proven track record of excellence. DICCAI's governing council would receive guidance from it’s advisory board which would include industry representatives, PWDs, members from government agencies such as disability commissionerates etc.

The entire organisation would be systemically divided into different cells (based on functionality) which would work independently, reporting to the GC

  1. Literacy Cell
  2. Skill Development and Training Cell
  3. Sponsorship and Scholarship Cell
  4. Entrepreneurship Cell
  5. Information Cell
  6. Industry Cell 
  7. Innovation Cell
  8. Research Cell
  9. Legal Cell

Literacy Cell

Compared to the national average of 26%, 45% of Indians with disabilities are illiterate. 

Despite the promise of the universal access to education for all (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan), children with special needs form the largest chunk of out-of-school children. A study of government data reveals that even all disabilities are not equal as children with locomotor or visual disability are more likely to go to school with only about 20-30% out of school as compared to over 64% children with mental disabilities out of school.

What keeps children out of school then? One of the major reasons is accessibility - both in terms of physical access as well as attitudinal change of educators. While there are several special needs school already operational, many lack the necessary equipment or software to cater to the needs of special needs children. Also many special need children can be integrated into regular schools provided with the willingness and acceptance from school managements. We propose to start workshops to sensitise schools to needs of special children, training for teachers, providing teaching aids wherever necessary, getting industry to sponsor physical changes like building ramps, accessible toilets in schools and more.

Besides school education, adult and continuing education is an equally important area of work for disabled persons. It is important to note that while the number of special needs students enrolled in primary education is significant, the numbers see a sharp drop when it comes to secondary and higher education, indicating a high drop-out rate. To enable such persons later in life, providing them adult and continuing education opportunities become important.

Skill Development and Training Cell

While traditional education is one aspect that DCCAI hopes to improve for PWDs, an important area of work is skill development. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modiji has laid emphasis on introducing job related and skill based courses for the youth to enhance their employability. With several universities having introduced these courses besides specialised institutions having come up, this cell can guide PWDs on the various options available before them. This cell can also conduct regular training workshops for PWDs for various skills sets and development needs.

Sponsorship and Scholarship Cell

As the name suggests, this cell would help establish scholarships for students with PWDs to assist them for higher education opportunities, especially technical and professional courses, both in Indian and foreign universities. The sponsorship cell would help to sponsor persons with disabilities pursue any sports or adventure activities and encourage disabled sports persons.

Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment Cell

One of the flagship programmes of the Government of India is Start-up India, a dream of PM Narendra Modiji, where he envisages maximum youth to become self-employed and entrepreneurs. However sadly PWD’s still find it extremely difficult to start their own business due to various obstacles – right from unaffordability and no start-up capital to difficulty in obtaining bank loans, not enough knowledge of establishing business to paperwork. This cell would work towards removing these obstacles that come in the way of disabled persons and empower them with tools, resources and connects needed to start their dream business. 

We also envisage setting up a Mentorship programme under this cell where an expert or senior from the industry would take on a PWD as a mentee and guide them through the process of set-up as well as initial hiccups.

Information Cell

The cell would provide information on available government schemes, financial resources, bank loans as well as legal and other compliances needed for starting new business.

One of the major areas where this cell can work is disability certificates. According to 2015 data with the Ministry of Social Justice, around 51 % PWDs did not have disability certificates. Currently three institutions in Maharashtra are employed to give out disability certificates, based on which special needs persons can have access to a host of facilities, concessions and subsidies by the government. While the idea is that from the time of application, it should take a maximum of one month to receive the certificate and process of application is simple for all, persons living with disabilities say that the wait is much longer and process is more complicated.

Industry Cell

Probably one of the most important wings of the organisation and it’s backbone, the industry cell would work to promote tie-ups with existing industries and organisations to generate employment opportunities for PWDs. According to statistics available with the National Centre for Promotion of Employment of Disabled People (NCPEDP), only 62 organisations are listed as disabled friendly in India. It is estimated that less than 1 percent of disabled persons have been able to find employment in the private sector, with the number being even far lesser in multinationals. This shows the dire need to sensitise industry partners, bring in diversity in workplaces as well as introduce HR training workshops for industry.

Innovation Cell

The idea behind establishing this cell is to facilitate sponsorships for research and development activities by both PWD’s and abled-bodied persons for ideas, products meant to support the disabled population as well as services meant to enable them.

Research Cell

This unit envisages to undertake and encourage research projects on the existing PWD’s population into their socio, political, demographic and other aspects. Such research which will help to understand the present situation, needs and future requirements of the community so as to be able to identify the correct remedial measures or tools for assistance.

Legal Cell

To disseminate information about the legal rights of PWDs as per the Constitution, PWD Act, international conventions and so on, and assist PWDs whenever they are breached. To provide free legal aid to PWDs.