January 2008 Edition
Rakesh Agrawal
New Delhi
THE fourth Abilities Mela, which took place at the Blind Relief Association (BRA) in Delhi on 1-2 December, displayed the inspiring talents of people with disability. There were stalls selling cool bamboo mats, paintings, clothes, calendars, handicrafts, paper products, bags, toys, scented candles and much more. Food stalls churned out tempting cuisines. Masseurs, visually disabled, offered an invigorating massage. A jam sessioncalled Dance Magic rocked. Children from a village in UP sang patriotic songs with fervour. “Its not just visual sight that’s important,” said an activist from BRA. “How you mentally view life is equally significant.” Organised by the Business and Community Foundation, (BCF), the Blind Relief Association (BRA) and the National Disabilities Trust, the Abilities Mela became a meeting ground for people from all walks of life.
“The idea of the mela is to celebrate
abilities,” says Amita Joseph, director -
general of BCF. “It has now become a
platform for people to interact, display
skills, network, find customers and get
product advice.”
As many as 58 organisations participated,
including private companies and
public sector undertakings. NGOs put
up stalls to tell people about their work.
The mela brought people with disability
in touch with marginalised groups like
the homeless and street children so that they could lobby together.
The employment rate of people with
disability has gone down from 43 per
cent to 38 per cent. The corporate sector employs only 0.3 per cent. This year
the mela focussed on employment so a
Job Fair was organised on 30 November.
Candidates got to meet company representatives
and some received job
offers. For those keen on self employment
there was sound advice available
on product design, marketing and packaging.
The theme of the fair was ‘dismania’
which means design and mania and the
National Institute of Design was at hand
to provide ideas on how products could
be better designed.
A stall put up by Muskaan, a parents association for children with mental disability,
had colourful candles, toys, greeting
cards and boxes.
“We learnt here how to employ the kills of those with mental disability so that their products are useful for the corporate sector. We also learnt about liaisoning between the oluntary sector and the government,” said Runina Mohan of Muskaan. The Family of Disabled (FOD) is making a mark in the art circuit with its range of paintings. “We exhibit art done by people with disability in art galleries,” said Rishi Raj, an artist without a right arm. Artistic products adorned their stall. The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) was also there. “We want to tell society that NTPC is not just for the generation of power but also for promoting social power,” said A K Saxena of NTPC. The company has been delivering eeducation, computer literacy and health facilities to the physically challenged. It has started a programme to combat TB. NTPC’s ‘karyashala’ programme is providing raw material and marketing support to products made by people with disability, said Saxena. Entrepreneurs and NGOs got valuable feedback from customers. VS Srivastava of the Aradhana Parents’ Group which sold candles, spices and kitchen products said: “We have decided to go for cardboard packing instead of polythene. We realised that’s what people prefer.”
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