The dropout of differently-abled people from work is almost zero now as they are very much accustomed to perform their duties. But despite having certain limitations, they do not get jobs. Many think that though these large portions of the society have obtained the highest degree from the universities and other qualifications, they are lagging behind in the field of employment due to the outlook of employers. To make employment easy for the persons with disabilities, job fairs are being arranged for them in the country in the last three years. The private organisations are undertaking various projects to increase employment for the disabled.
Though 10 percent of total population are somehow disabled, the job opportunity for most of them could not be created due to the employers’ lack of confidence in them.
It is mandatory for the government offices to give work scope to the five percent disabled people. Currently 14 ministries are working with the disabled and autistic children.
Of them, eight ministries, particularly the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, are very much active in this regard. International Labour Organisation (ILO) Technical Advisor Kishore Kumar Singha said they have to face some challenges while working with the disabled people for their training and employment.
In this case, he said, coordination is needed between the government policies and work of the non-government organisations at macro level. Mentioning that the work is being hampered due to lack of coordination, the ILO official said the government offices should abide by the law of the state of giving work scope to five percent disabled people. Meanwhile, the people concerned said the dropout of the disabled persons from the work is almost zero as they are very much disciplined in performing their responsibility.
Head of BRAC Training Programme Ahmed Tanveer Anam said 2,453 disabled people have so far received training from them since 2012 and 867 persons were added to the programme in 2017.
Of them, he said, the job of 99 percent has been ensured. The disabled-friendly civil society has put emphasis on finding out a way of utilizing the disabled people’s success of the non-institutional sector in the institutional sector.
Job fairs are often arranged in the country to provide employment to the persons with disabilities.
The Sylhet Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized such a fair on August 18 for creating employment for the disabled as well as keeping in mind social responsibility and economic development.
Different food producing and marketing companies, residential hotels, restaurants, hospitals, educational institutions and industrial organisations took part in this job fair.