July 2024 at the DEI Lab: Disability Pride & More

Every year, July marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a landmark legislation for disability rights passed this month in 1990 that’s helped inspire a worldwide conversation on disability rights. We’re dropping a new short film about disability inclusion at the Godrej Industries Group in a few days: here’s the teaser.?

In this newsletter, you’re reading about:?

1. What we’ve been up to since we last wrote to you. (Lots.)?
2. More about our workplace’s efforts to be more inclusive for people with disabilities.?
3. News about DEI from India and around the world.?
4. A recco for a book that recently won a national award.?

?“There needs to be an ecosystem that works. If your business is not accessible, then you can’t hire a disabled individual, so you have to look at your policies. In a school- the school must be accessible, and the teacher must be sensitive. Disability cannot be looked at in isolation.” - Arman Ali, Executive Director at National Center for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP)

MAIN STORY

Arman Ali Wants Us To Do Better?

We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Arman Ali, the executive director of the National Center for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP). We’re admirers of his work, and the interview was a chance for us to discover more about his personal journey as well as the evolution of NCPEDP. Initially serving as a bridge between employers and disabled individuals, the organisation has since expanded its mission to advocate for disability rights, crucial for Indian workplaces and culture at large. He was categorical about how important it is to build public and corporate awareness about disability – and about the responsibilities that come with that awareness.

To read Arman's views on building an ecosystem that supports disability through effective policies and infrastructure, check the full story here. ??

QUIZ

How many types of disabilities are codified in The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 in India??????

A. 2

B. 13

C. 20

D. 21

Answer in the last section of the newsletter (stick around and find out!)

FROM THE DEI LAB DESK

News from the Lab + the Godrej Industries Group:?

• It’s a wrap on Pride Month at Godrej One, which we celebrated extra-hard because of the work all our businesses put in on LGBTQIA+ inclusion through the year. As Nisaba Godrej, executive chairperson, Godrej Consumer Products Limited wrote : “It makes me very hopeful for India’s journey of progress and inclusivity.”??
• Our boss Parmesh writes on the crucial role that allies play in fostering workplace inclusion. It’s a useful explanatory brief on why and how to build queer allyship: save and share? ?
• GCPL and Godrej Industries Limited (Chemicals) are both encouraging LGBTQIA+ individuals to apply to work with them; more details here and here . ?
• On his first day as an intern at the Godrej DEI Lab, Jai Shah met Anand Vijay, India's only legally blind producer and director. Read his story about Anand’s extraordinary career here.
• Our colleagues at Godrej Properties Limited won an award for LGBTQIA+ inclusion at the Bombay Chambers DEI Awards 2024 last month.
• Godrej Properties has also been recognised as a workplace that empowers Dyslexic Thinking by Made by Dyslexia . (Never stop winning, folks!)?Dyslexia is not a hindrance, but an ability to look at problems differently and ideate innovative solutions. We love GPL for recognising that. ?
• The chemicals business is not most people’s idea of a woman-friendly industry, but our friends at GIL (Chemicals) are out to change that. Fem-Chem, their new programme to increase gender diversity in manufacturing operations, has already brought nine talented women from economically disadvantaged backgrounds on board as associate trainees in the business’s plants in Ambernath, Maharashtra and Valia, Gujarat. Stay tuned for lots more from the Fem-Chem initiative. (And watch our short film about how the Ambernath facility went from 4 women employees to 40 in just over a year to meet some of our cool Chem colleagues.)?

MORE STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

DEI in the news, around India and the world

• The World Inequality Lab numbers showed that over 85% of India's billionaire wealth is held in upper caste communities, while people from scheduled castes hold only 2.6%.?
• Tata Steel has reportedly hired 113 trans people in facilities all over India in recent months, some of whom are working across shifts in heavy earth-moving machinery roles. An official said that the company has “a tremendous organisational focus” on DEI. Love!
• Equity of mental and physical health is a "medical civil right," former US politician Patrick J. Kennedy said in an interview with McKinsey.
• Lemon Tree, a pioneer in disability inclusion, celebrates their 20-year anniversary. Over the years, they’ve committed to their beliefs in a way that’s inspiring to many in corporate India. Here’s to many more years of success!
• We've been reading reports about alleged discrimination against married women in a Foxconn facility and liked this article in the Indian Express: “Where's the imaginary support system?”?
• India is ranked 129th out of 146 countries on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index in 2024. We have so much work to do.?

GODREJ ONE BOOK CLUB

Homeless: Growing up Lesbian and Dyslexic in India by K. Vaishali?

For this month, we recommend K. Vaishali’s beautiful book, just awarded the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puruskar for 2024. The writer recounts her experiences growing up and going to college in India as lesbian and dyslexic, exploring difficult emotions and challenges. The book presents her raw, vulnerable self, offering a comprehensive understanding of her struggles.

It breaks new ground in how it diverges from typical narratives to represent LGBTQIA+ individuals. Homeless highlights the lack of support systems in India for a neurodivergent queer person. It’s a memoir that finally tells the tale of many that were never told before. Educational, conversational, and rightfully critically acclaimed, Homeless hooks and enlightens readers in ways never explored before. ?

FOOTER

Quiz answer: There are 21 types of disabilities codified in The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. This is the first time that Speech and Language Disability and Specific Learning Disability have been added. The new categories of disabilities also include three blood disorders, Thalassemia, Hemophilia and Sickle Cell disease. Read more here. ? ?

Stuff we can’t stop thinking about:??

• Journalist Priti Salian’s newsletter Reframing Disability , which simplifies disability inclusion??
• TARSHI (Talking About Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues), which has run its pioneering monthly magazine on sexuality and its intersections In Plainspeak since 2005.
• Tanushree Sarkar's work for its insightful examination of inclusive education and understanding of teachers' inclusive practices in addressing educational differences.
• Rising Flame’s comic about the International Purple Fest, last year’s first-of-its-kind festival of disability inclusion in Goa. Download the accessible PDF here . ?
• The YouTube channel @drivewithanita and Dr. Anita Sharma’s ‘gram . Dr. Anita is the founder of ‘Drive On My Own’ foundation, and her channels are full of heartwarming and very stories by and about the lives of persons with disabilities.
• OMI Foundation’s ‘Moving While Woman: Bindu’s Big City Journey – A Data Comics’ on the unique experiences of women navigating urban mobility in India. It examines how mobility issues can be magnified for women from marginalised castes and communities, women with disabilities, elderly women, women travelling with children and trans/non-binary people. Check it out on their website here .??
• This sure-fire way to check accessibility measurements, from Kazakh social activists.???

To do: Attend the upcoming virtual panel discussion on Women, Work, and Regulation in India by Udaiti Foundation. Despite comprising 48.5% of India's population, women represent only 27.4% of its workforce, one of the lowest rates among emerging economies. Happening on 10th July, the panel sheds more light on this issue. Register asap here and find their speaker bios here !

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