Persons with Disabilities and Labour Market in India

Persons with Disabilities and Labor Market in India (Swapna V Thampi* MSc, M.A, M.Ed., M.L, PGDPC, PGDIHL) Abstract There is evolution in the models of disability over the years. Various models of disabilities include religious model, charity model, medical model, social model and human rights models which changed the traditional concepts of disability. This article studies about Persons With Disabilities1 and whether they are represented adequately in the Labour market of India. The most challenging factors in the employment of persons with disabilities is held to be discrimination, poverty, accessibility issues and attitudes of Employers and fellow employees. In spite of the efforts of ILO2, UNCRPD3 strong anti-discriminatory laws, Disability legislations of India4 and many Government schemes and policies, persons with disabilities are not adequately represented in the labor market of India. The issue of low employment rate of persons with Disabilities in the labour market hinder their full participation in the society. The importance of inclusion of persons with disabilities and treating them with equality and dignity is accepted worldwide. This article examines the reasons like poverty, lack of education, training, gender inequality, accessibility issues and Employer attitudes play roles in poor representation of PWD in job market in India and how it can be resolved.