In the two years since Akash Kumar Gupta completed his PhD from IIT-Madras, he has been unable to find a job. It’s not for lack of trying: the 30-year-old who has low vision, says he has applied for a number of positions, but that his applications do not succeed.
Mr. Gupta, who is from Madhya Pradesh, was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease when he was in school. “I am from a poor financial background and there was not much support available. I thought a good education would provide financial security and stability,” he said.
But to date, this has not materialised. Mr. Gupta says that a few universities refused his application when he said he was visually impaired.
In one university, he reportedly cleared all the interviews, was selected for the post of assistant professor in chemistry and was sent an offer letter; but when he revealed his disability, he says he was prohibited from joining despite bringing a certificate from a hospital that said he was fit for the job.
“At some places, they refused to give me extra time to complete my exams or said they could not fill the post with a person with a disability. I even applied under special recruitment drives, but to no avail,” he said.
The father of a young woman in Chennai who is hearing impaired and has an engineering degree said she has been unable to find a job in her field, despite attending numerous job fairs.
“She had a job in publishing, but it was not related to her degree and was somewhat low paid. If the companies could hire these candidates and then give them skills training, it would be very beneficial,” he said.
Activists have for long said that despite laws on job reservations, persons with disabilities find it hard to get employed.
“The 1995 Act as well as the new Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, provides for reservation for blind and low vision persons. However, in general, these quotas are nowhere close to being filled up. Even if jobs are given, many times institutions make no effort to make use of the candidate’s abilities or provide reasonable accommodations or assistive technology for them,” said Vaishnavi Jayakumar, member, Disability Rights Alliance, Tamil Nadu.
Disability rights activist P. Simmachandran said 120 persons with disabilities had been appointed in Grade 4 jobs under the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission. “They got the jobs under the disability quota, but are now being asked to bring certificates to prove their fitness. There is no format given for this and there is a short deadline. The candidates have to go to government hospitals to get these certificates, where they are told to wait for a call, which can take weeks,” he said.
Limited opportunities
Over the years, while more persons with disabilities are registering with the State’s employment exchange, opportunities continue to be limited, said disability rights activist S. Namburajan.
T.M.N. Deepak, State president, December 3 Movement, said: “This is a systemic issue. The government is not providing employment even after judicial intervention.”
