Chennai: Differenty-abled people are indeed pioneers in showing other people in society how challenges should be overcome, said Governor Banwarilal Purohit.
Inaugurating the south zone regional Abilympics 2019 organised by Sarthak and National Abilympics Association of India (NAAI) here Friday, he said, improving vocational training and employment opportunities for persons with disability is not only a critical element for enhancing the quality of life for individuals and their families, but also for reaping as a whole substantial gains for the economy.
Abilympics are vocational skill competitions specifically designed for persons with disabilities to enable them to display their unique talents.
Over 60 people with disabilities (PwDs) participated in various vocational skills competitions on day one. The second day will see job fairs conducted by 25 companies at NSDC for Differently Abled, (NSTI) Campus (VRC for Handicapped), Guindy Industrial Estate, Chennai.
“Abilympics have been the Olympics showcasing the abilities and tremendous competitive zeal of PwDs,” said Sarthak founder and CEO, Jitender Aggarwal. “Understanding the potential amongst these talented people, Sarthak Educational Trust and M S Swaminathan Research Foundation have come together and signed a MoU that plans to train over 5 lakh PwDs from southern States of India in the field of agriculture by providing livelihood model training to PwDs in the rural parts of India,” he said.
“Sarthak and NAAI have been trying to highlight the issue that nearly 30 million PWD’s in the country are looking for jobs and empowerment and not charity and sympathy. There are many jobs that they can do better than the able bodied person,” said NAAI president Krishan Kalra.