To improve job readiness and opportunities for persons with disabilities (PwDs), Accenture awarded a series of grants worth Rupee 4.8 crore to its nonprofit partners Dr. Reddy’s Foundation, Anudip Foundation and EnAble India.
The grants are part of Accenture’s ‘Skills to Succeed’ global corporate citizenship initiative which aims to equip 3 million with job skills by 2020. The initiative intends to enhance programs that provide job skills to PwDs in India and connect them to available vacancies. The grants are planned to support the following three foundations for their programmes.
Dr. Reddy’s Foundation
GROW is a skilling program for persons across India with locomotor disabilities and hearing impairment. It is focused on communication and work-readiness skills, skills for targeted service industries such as information technology (IT), hospitality and retail, and basic digital skills. The program also helps connect disabled persons with suitable jobs.
The Anudip Foundation:
Specially Abled Vocational Education (SAVE) is a program in West Bengal and Odisha, tailored to the physically and visually challenged. The three-month programme provides IT and business-process-outsourcing-specific training. This is in line with employer requirements and available positions.
EnAble India
Scaling its innovative Namma Vaani system is an interactive voice response, which uses mobile phones to create an interactive, inclusive social platform to promote a network for PwDs. Through Namma Vaani, these individuals are able to not only share their stories, but also receive information related to employment opportunities, government schemes and skills development programs.
“Over the past five years, we have teamed with several of our ‘Skills to Succeed’ partners to make a measurable impact for this community. I am proud to share that we aim to equip approximately 20,000 PwDs in India with job skills by the end of fiscal year 2017,” said Rekha M. Menon, Chairman and Senior Managing Director, Accenture, India.
Recently, Accenture was recognised as a ‘Role Model Company’ by the National Center for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPDEP) – A cross-disability advocacy organisation. The recognition is part of NCPDEP’s 2016 Helen Keller Awards, which for nearly two decades, has recognised companies for their commitment to provide equal employment opportunities for PwDs.
“No inclusion agenda in India can be complete without a focus on over 20 million PwDs in India,” Menon said. Apart from this the company is celebrating United Nations-commemorated International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
