While coffee culture is riding the third wave, Alina Alam is setting up a new offering, which needs more attention. With over 40 Mitti Cafes across India she has a whole new model of social impact that is employing various specially-abled people and redefining the service industry.
Today the Supreme Court and Rashtrapati Bhavan have their own Mitti Cafe, which is a statement in its own. Beyond the cafe, she does a lot of skill and capability building exercises that could help the specially-abled to find purpose and remain gainfully employed.
One study by the National Family Health Survey shows 63.28 million (as per 2019-21) disabled individuals, with locomotor disability being the most common in India. These individuals face many barriers to employment. For starters, there is a need of accurate and dependable data, which is essential to make any moves. Also disability is at an intersection of caste, class and gender vulnerabilities that add to lack of opportunities, especially in rural India. This does not include the employment of individuals with psychiatric disabilities.
On the other hand, tokenism is overdone by corporate India, which is just lip-service, as employees are mere profit-units in their capitalist agenda. We need to go beyond media campaigns and conduct exclusive recruitment drives or quota systems. The bigger challenge is the lack of accessible infrastructure to cater to their needs for e.g. the lack of accesible washrooms or even wheelchair ramps in commercial complexes.
The government authorities, policy makers and even urban planners need to step up. While dealing with specially-abled individuals we need well-planned and nuanced actions, and India is far behind. By providing financial incentives, tax benefits, or subsidies to employers the government can increase and encourage hiring disabled individuals. Also recognizing and rewarding companies with disabled employees can foster a more inclusive corporate culture. Through microfinance or grants we can encourage entrepreneurship among disabled individuals.
There are possibilities but very few takers or providers. Till then lets hope Alina stays busy building more opportunities.
#powertoher #speciallyabled #disabilityawareness #inclusion #mitticafe