in a world where improving vocational training and employment for people with disability pwd is critical for enhancing their lifes quality the need for affirmative action is of paramount importance nearly 74 of pwds are nonworkers or marginal workers in india according to census 2011 india has 268 crore pwds 56 male and 44 female nearly 50 of the total pwd population in india 134 crores are in the employable age of 1559 years but most of them are underutiliseda world bank study estimates that excluding people with disability from the economy translates into a foregone gdp of 57 consequenly the sector skill council for pwds scpwd under the national skill development corporation nsdc is aligned with the pmkvy pradhan mantri kaushal vikas yojana 20162020 scheme to run courses for the speciallyabled says manish kumar md and ceo nsdcthe courses of 3 to 4 months duration blend theory and practical learning to address the skill gap along with soft skill sessions on communication grooming and presentation they have been a part of pmkvy since 2016 however to address the low uptake dedicated pwd centres were sanctioned since march 2018 presently over 9000 pwd candidates have been trained under pmkvy out of which 5000 have been placed over 55 pwd training centres have been set up with a target to train 14520 candidates across the countrythe training is in varied job roles such as fb steward retail sales associate domestic data entry operator to name a few it is imperative to reduce and ultimately remove barriers for a more inclusive skills ecosystem says kumar while referring to assistive aids such as braille and computer screen readers and sign language interpreters at many of the training centres they are also awarded points for pwdfriendly ramps separate washrooms lifts and wheelchairsover 20 states including jk delhi chhattisgarh uttarakhand and maharashtra have provisions for residential facility for pwd candidates close to their training centres which accounts for the less than 10 dropout rate as it removes their reliance on public transport and need for attendantswhile each job role requires minimum education qualification as entry requirement scpwd can be flexible with the norms since the education status of pwds is very low kumar says the training centres placement cell organises counselling sessions for trainees and exposure visits to employer locations for handson experience as part of onjobtraining ojt the cells are also mandated to organise placement drives rozgar melas as a platform for potential employers to focus on pwd inclusion going forward nsdc is empanelling specialised placement agencies to scaleup placements for pwd candidates across indiaskilling to empowerpuneet 34 from gurugram who is hearing impaired was trained through multiple tools like ppt videos books and role plays in the domestic data entry operator course he was recruited by an mnc for their retail outlet with a starting salary of rs 9000 puneets advice for aspirants is turn your disability into strength not weakness alka 33 from uttarakhand who is presently working in pullman hotels is