Down Syndrome patient Devanshi Joshi wins NCPEDP-Mindtree Hellen Keller Award.

Employment of persons with intellectual
disabilities need of the hour

Visit Gram Bharat in R.K. Puram, New Delhi, and
you are greeted by a cheerful young lady.  Working as Store Assistant
since 2013, Devanshi has created a special place in the hearts of her customers
– her ‘fans’, who visit the store to meet her.

Devanshi has overcome challenges posed by Down
Syndrome, a genetic condition that leads to delayed physical growth
and intellectual disability.  

Devanshi is a dream employee, responsible,
reliable and respectful to customers and suppliers. Reflecting dignity of
labour while helping her juniors learn new skills, and an eager learner
herself, she remembers not just the product codes and prices but also the stock
levels and reordering schedules.  As winner of the NCPEDP-Mindtree
Hellen Keller Award, Devanshi embodies the values of the award. 

Javed Abidi, Honorary Director of NCPEDP,
“  The awards are given to exceptional individuals and organizations
who have established themselves as role models in furthering employment
opportunities for persons with disabilities. Devanshi’s success is important because
India has not yet understood disability fully. For Indians disability has
always meant only blind and wheelchair users. What about muscular dystrophy,
leprosy, sickle cell anemia, cerebral palsy, downs syndrome and dwarfism? When
will India discover the neglected disabilities?”

Krishna Kumar Natarajan of Mindtree presided over
the function. He said, “Mindtree is proud
to support NCPEDP – given that all its work and its campaigns are aimed at
creating an inclusive society for people with disabilities”. He further
added, “Cannot emphasize the importance of making websites accessible to
make the digital ecosystem inclusive for persons with disabilities”

Also present were Saurabh Chandra,
Jury Member & Trustee, NCPEDP, Krishna Kumar Natarajan, Chairperson Mindtree
Ltd & Suresh Jandial, ONGC.

This year, the NCPEDP- Mindtree Helen Keller
Awards were given away in the following categories-  

CATEGORY A: ROLE MODEL DISABLED PERSONS 

Disabled persons from within the disability
sector and outside who have been active as ambassadors of the cause of
employment for disabled people and are a positive role model for others.

1. Dr. Charudatta Jadhav – Head Accessibility
COE, Tata Consultancy Services Limited

2. Devanshi Joshi – Store Assistant, Gram
Bharat

3. Dr. Nirmita Narasimhan – Policy Director,
Centre for Internet and Society

4. Pradip Sinha – Executive, Issue Retrieval
Centre in IT Asset Management, Dell – EMC

CATEGORY B: ROLE MODEL SUPPORTERS OF INCREASED
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISABLED PEOPLE 

Individuals from within the disability sector
or outside who have contributed substantially to the cause of promoting
employment opportunities for disabled people over an extended period of time.

1. SV Krishnan – CEO, Dialogue in the Dark –
ACE Take 1

2. Swaminathan Subramanian – Manager, Payments
and Operations, ANZ Bengaluru Service Centre

CATEGORY C: ROLE MODEL
COMPANIES/NGOs/INSTITUTIONS

Organizations from the disability sector or
outside who have shown their commitment towards promoting equal employment
opportunities for people with disabilities. 

1. Barrier Break Solutions Private Limited

2. Hatti Food and Beverages Private Limited

3. The Lemon Tree Hotel Company

4. Vindhya e Infomedia Private Limited