For many people living with disabilities, seeking employment is often a grueling process. Sometimes, despite their qualifications, those with disabilities are denied jobs, because employers fear that job performance will suffer. While disabled people are awarded equal opportunity employment in theory, this is not always the case in reality. Unable to find employment, the disabled can end up in a perpetual state of poverty, unable to remedy the situation.

Companies like Vindhya are slowly changing this trend. A global IT company located in India, Vindhya is primarily staffed by those with disabilities, who are referred to as “different-abled” rather than “disabled.” It is a title that recognizes that certain physical disabilities don’t necessarily make someone entirely “disabled.”

Though in many ways Vindhya is like any other company, working to ensure the quality of its products and fulfill the demands of companies like Yahoo!, Metlife and Wipro. It offers its “differently-abled” employees an important opportunity: the chance to be self-sufficient.  Without such opportunities, it is hard to imagine where the “differently-abled” would find recourse. Employment at Vindhya opens many doors its workers, including the chance to improve their economic status.

Giving employment opportunities to groups that are often discriminated against, such as the disabled, is the first step to liberating generations from the ugly cycle of poverty.

– Aalekhya Malladi

Sources: Vindhya, Next Billion
Photo: LOREWO