This BPO employs, empowers the disabled

Thirty-five-year-old Manju has been scouting for a job for years now, but her profound deafness coupled with her lack of education has restricted her ability to earn a living. But now she is gearing up for a job interview at a BPO that employs physically challenged people.

Manju’s elder sister Parvathy, who works as a domestic help, is planning to introduce her to Vindhya E-Infomedia, a BPO for differently abled located at Rajajinagar, through her employers.
According to surveys, though there is no dearth of NGOs and government organisations providing training to differently abled people for jobs, many still remain unemployed. “We wanted to tap this segment. So we started Vindhya in 2006,” said Pavithra YS, managing director, Vindhya E-Infomedia.

From receptionist G Srinivas, 25, who lost his hands while working as an electrician, to polio-afflicted Vasantha Kumari, who heads a team, employees at Vindhya are never short of self-confidence. Before joining Vindhya, Srinivas worked as an electrician, but he lost his hands in an accident. “I lost all hopes of finding a job. Thankfully, my mother knew a worker with Vindhya who introduced me to Pavithra madam. She recruited me as a receptionist and the institute gave me training in computers,” he said. The job has given Srinivas the means to support family.
The organisation has around 300 employees and plans to add 100 more by year-end.  Vindhya undertakes work including data entry, processing and conversion for its clients, who comprise companies in banking, financial services, insurance, IT and microfinance domains.

But the going has not been easy for Pavithra and her husband. “We faced a tough time convincing corporates and clients about our abilities.The moment they heard that our employees were differently abled, an element of doubt used to crop up. But the fact that we were able to deliver proved the critics wrong,” Pavithra said.

Pavithra was clear that she wanted Vindhya to be sustainable. So, she stressed that the enterprise should work for profit like any other corporate entity. Also, she wanted to take advantage of the city’s image as a IT hub, and hence decided to run a BPO, instead of the usual handicraft business.

Most employees in her organisation are from rural areas in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Chennai. “We look for people from rural areas as parents in urban areas will find ways to educate their kids and get them jobs,” Pavithra said.