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I am sure that very few of us would have heard about the small exhibition that was held in Bangalore early this month to showcase technology solutions for enabling people with disabilities. Organized by BarrierBreak Technologies and the Royal National Institute of the Blind of UK, on display was a wide range of solutions, from power wheelchairs to a set of software that help people with disabilities on the professional front, especially the IT sector.

We might have missed this because we are only used to hearing about and seeing IT enabling businesses. Unfortunately, the show did not get the kind of industry support and media attention that it should have, as both the industry and media would rather prefer to engage the rich and famous film stars and sportsmen using laptops and printers.

An industry or business is mostly about numbers and market potential, so should we really worry about people with disabilities? Estimates vary, but it would not be completely incorrect to say that India has over 65 mn people with disabilities; for those of us who get a kick out of numbers, this should make them sit up. Obviously, many among them will argue, and rightly so, that most of the 65 mn in this potential market come from poor to lower middle class families, with not much buying power.

Ibrahim Ahmad ibrahima@cybermedia.co.in

It is therefore important to look at this issue differently. This big chunk might not have the resources to buy laptops and desktops, but they can be great users. This means that even with little training, they can be ready for employment. In fact, we have several examples where organizations using disabled people are quite happy with the quality of their work, and even more satisfied with their job stability.

There are increasing number of schools, colleges and universities, and other specialized training centers that now want to adopt IT education or IT in their education for the disabled students. They have no clue about what is available, from where to buy, and at what costs. However small, there is definitely a business case for developing this area.
There are of course a lot of bottlenecks, and the ICT industry can take a lead to remove many of these. To begin with, IT, BPO as well as communications can have offices and work places where people on the wheelchair can come for work. The government, in one stroke, can win over 65 lakh citizens (and many votes too) if it announces an incentive policy for employing people with disabilities. I know for sure that China gives huge tax benefits to companies that employ disabled people. For instance, if an organization has 50% of its workers who are disabled, it gets 50% tax discounts. The country has a very active community of people and companies working for the disabledthe ICT industry quickly needs to connect with it.

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