Fifteen years after the enforcement of a policy which guarantees differently-abled people the right to jobs without discrimination, one would still be hard-pressed to find the policy in practice. But one Mumbai organisation has overturned these notions, with hearing-impaired persons running all its operations.
The people in this courier company consider themselves a part of one team, one family and one community, and have taken it upon themselves to provide speedy and efficient service to society. The company, Mirakle Couriers, employs only hearing-impaired adults including all the staff members and delivery personnel.
Their business model is based on creating a service-driven profitable enterprise that employs hearing-impaired men and women. The women handle back-office jobs and the men mostly do the delivery work.
The company was the brainchild of Druva Lakra, who began his career in investment banking in Mumbai, where he worked for two years. Later, he joined a non-profit organisation, Dasra, which seeks to transform the non-profit sector through management skills. With the help and support of Dasra, Lakra created a business model with hearing-impaired people only. They hire these people from the sign language schools they are studying at, and train the ones who are done with their studies and are looking for jobs.
“We are not a charity but a social business, where the social element is embedded in the commercial operations. Our corporate clients have shown trust in our business and cause by availing our services. Our client list, which includes Mahindra & Mahindra, the Aditya Birla Group, Victory Art Foundation, JSW Group, Indian Hotels Company, Godrej & Boyce and Essel Propack, shows that our team members are doing their jobs well,” said Lakra.
“The major problem in India is unemployment and when it comes to differently-abled people then the situation worsens. So, we thought we could employ hearing-impaired people for the kind of work where people don’t have to communicate much.
For courier services, people just need to approach the right address and deliver the parcel,” said Rohan Mehta, Lakra’s business partner.
The employees bond with each other apart from their work too, and go for outings together. In the office there is also an atmosphere of learning and education where different people teach them sign language, computer skills and strategic learning for improving business and efficiency skills. They are already familiar with English.
Besides work they also share their experiences and difficulties with each other. Lakra has also started a blog to help the employees share their joy, difficulties and achievements. At present, there are more than 60 employees working with Mirakle courier.
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