The 19th edition of India’s Regional Abilympics will be held from 14-15 June at the World Trade Centre in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India. The event hosted by the National Abilympics Association of India (NAAI), under the aegis of Sarthak Educational Trust with the support of The HansFoundation, will witness the participation of over 400+ people with disabilities (PwDs).
Since its inception in 2001, Regional Abilympics has seen an immense growth with several stakeholders such as the Government, Corporate houses, prospective employers, crowd-funding platforms, investors, and start-ups joining hands to extend their support and appreciate skills of PWDs. This year is no different as more opportunities are being curated for PWDs to demonstrate their vocational skills and underscore their potential for employment across the industry spectrum.
The Mumbai Abilympics is spread across 4 zones and 10 vocational segments, including ICT (CharacterDesigning, Desktop Publishing, and E Sports), Crafts (FloralArrangement), Food (Cooking andBakery), Services (Jewellery, Tailoring/Dress Making, and Beauty Therapy), and Architecture designing through CAD. The winners in each segment will represent their zones at the National Abilympics and stand a chance to represent India in the International Abilympics 2020 slated to take place in China.
A Regional Conference on ‘Corporate Progression Toward Inclusion and Diversity’ would also be held and will attract participation of several Government officials, NGOs, Corporates and their CSR heads, discussing prospects and scope of empowering and providing sustainable livelihood to PWDs in order to help them lead a dignified life.
One of the major attractions of the event will be the job fairs wherein over 25 companies from each region will conduct their hiring drive for PwDs across the country. This year companies like Capgemini, Reliance Retail, Mirchi and Mine, Sutherland, ICICI Lombard, Sodexo, Aegis, Wipro, Pantaloons, Flipkart, Barrier Break, Tea Post, Being Human, etc will be conducting a drive to hire PwD’s.
Over the years, thousands of PwDs have been placed through these job fairs. Some of the employers at the event will share their experience of employing PwDs and will underscore how much they have gained in terms of low attrition rates, higher productivity, and loyalty of their ‘Specially abled employees’. In the past, Sarthak has been one of the most sought after organizations with many of its PwDs proving to be an asset for many of the top corporates.
“Abilympics have been the Olympics showcasing the abilities and tremendous competitive zeal of PwDs. They have also been a platform for all of us in the civil society to question that why in spite of being blessed with such mesmerizing talents PwDs are labeled as disabled?”, asks Dr. JitendraAgrawal, Founder &CEO of Sarthak Educational Trust.
Once a leading dentist in Delhi, Dr. Agrawal lost central vision of his both eyes in his early 30s because of macular degeneration, a leading cause of severe and irreversible visual impairment. However, he didn’t let his personal disability cripple him and through the dint of his determination and unflinching commitment to the cause of PwDs, he formed Sarthak Education Trust in 2008. Over the years, thanks to generous support that he got from Government ministries, leading Indian and multinational companies, NGOs, the media, and an eminent board of his advisers, Sarthak has trained and secured lucrative placement for over 15,000 PWDs across the industry segments through its 18 centres in India. Sarthak has also facilitated medical rehabilitation of over 1,000 children born with disability through Infoedge (naurkri.com), crocs, Capgemini, NSDC, Mahindra Finance and many more.
The Mumbai event will be also be graced by Shri Ashish Kumar Chauhan, MD & CEO, Bombay Stock Exchange, ShriKrishanKalra, President, National AbilympicsAssociation of India (NAAI), Dr. Sudhir Gupta, Vice President, NAAI, Shri Lov Verma, Vice President, NAAI, ShriAtulBhatnagar, Advisory Board Member, Sarthak Educational Trust, Dr. JitenderAggarwal, Founder & CEO, Sarthak& Secretary-General, NAAI, Shri Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman, Port Trust of India, ShriHemantBhargava, MD, LIC, ShriAshwinYardi, CEO, Capgemini-India, Edgard D Kagan, General Counsel, Embassy of US, StefaniaCostanza, Consul General, Embassy of Italy, Padma Bhushan Dr. MB Athreya, Shri Ajay Kanchan, Chief Editor & CEO, Media Today.
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