ABILITIES MELA 2006
The second Delhi Abilities Mela was held on April 1st & 2nd, 2006 at the Blind Relief Association (BRA) campus. BRA, BCF, FICCI - SEDF & Brotherhood organized the mela jointly. Kanoria Chemicals & Industries Ltd (KCIL) & National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC) provided the funding support to cover the costs of hosting the mela. The initiative was supported by Anubhuti Consultants - HR consultancy for the differently abled.
The event was a platform for demonstrating skillsets, creativity and potential of the differently abled, disseminating information on the aids and appliances, avenues and opportunities related to jobs and self employment available for them, sale of wide range of handicrafts, garments, products and celebrating abilities.
The event was inaugurated by Ms Poonam Natrajan of National Trust and Dr Manoj Kumar - Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities. The occasion was graced by the presence of eminent guests: Mrs. Manju Bharat Ram, Mrs. Madhuvanti Kanoria. Mr. C P Jain chairman NTPC was honoured with a citation for his contribution to promote an inclusive and barrier free environment for the differently abled in the organization.
The event was marked by 46 organizations working for the differently abled in the NCR region coming together on a common platform to showcase their skillsets, products and information. The new participants this time were NTPC Ltd, YES bank, Kotak Mahindra bank, Tender Hearts, Rangsutra, Cancer Kids India, Pardada Pardadi Education Society and others. The media coverage for the mela was done by Aaj Tak, Sahara TV, Delhi Doordarshan, Total TV and AIR.
The highlights of the mela included:
- Direct interaction of the potential employers from Power grid Corporation of India Ltd, Human Dynamics Asia Pacific, Trinue Group, Jindal Saw Ltd etc with the differently abled currently engaged in different jobs and vocations.
- Display of assistive devices by the students of School of Planning & Architecture.
- A collective discussion was organised by Balloons to share the experiences of the garment exporters who have been employing PWDs, training institutions, persons with disabilities and media representatives.
- Cultural performances by the students of Jeevanpath Viklang Vidyalaya, Rai Bareilly and that of BRA.
As a part of feedback sharing the participants felt that the mela gave them the platform and opportunity to share ideas with like-minded people, raise the level of awareness and information sharing, get to know about the work of organizations working across disabilities and customer feedback where they are self employed.
The vision is to have Abilities Mela across different states in India, where local groups and the differently abled themselves organize it and carry it forward.
<<back
