The Indian population comprises around 70 mn plus people who suffer from some
form of disability. Unfortunately, they are nowhere in anybody's radar-neither
the government that will frame policies to make their lives simpler and better,
nor companies that will have products and services for them. A population of 70
mn is significant. For the politicians (read the government) it means a lot of
voters, and for the business it means a big market. But everyone knows that over
90% of these people will never be able to reach the polling booth, nor do not
have money in their pockets to spend, so they are ignored.
Today, a blind or a deaf person in India cannot use telephones-whether a
cellphone or a fixed line phone. Why are we not seeing special phones and other
communications devices being developed for these people? There are innumerable
technologies available today that can be integrated with these cellphones or
netbooks or an ISP connection, and help disabled people connect with the world.
For instance, Nokia has recently introduced a software that will allow the
visually challenged to read an SMS using phone vibration. Initially, such
products may be costly and not easily available, but if their usage and demand
go up, economies of scale will take care of everything. Why doesn't the
government make it mandatory for equipment vendors to make all their products
usable by disabled people also.
Similarly, why should not each operator be asked to make its services
accessible for disabled people? Why shouldn't each organizational website also
be usable by the visually challenged and hearing impaired people, and operators
not be allowed to provide access to those websites that do not have a version
for disabled people? For instance, why should each operator not be asked to
provide subsidized connections to all blind schools in the country. If required,
let the government compensate the operators through the USO fund. After all this
fund was set up with the objective of making telecom accessible to every citizen
of this world.
Why can't handset manufacturers as well as operators actively partner with
organizations that work for disabled people, and take up joint projects that
will enable more disabled people to access communication services? The braille
software has been developed in a joint project between Nokia, Tampere University
in Finland, and the Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired. I would even go
to the extent of recommending that not just operators, but even equipment
vendors should be asked to contribute to the USO fund.
In the same breath, why should the government not announce a policy that can
enable BPOs and KPOs to employ thousands of these people to work from home?
Today, policy regulations do not permit that. It is time to look at these people
differently. They are a 70 mn strong human resource, who can play a big role in
building the nation. Many of them can take up jobs, and are likely to be stable
employees. Many disabled children can get access to education because of
telecom. Obviously, they will also contribute to the topline of equipment
vendors and operators.
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