I was a fresh graduate when in 2006 I joined the Bangladesh chapter of ActionAid. My first assignment was to execute a project named ‘Creating Role Models of Youths with Disabilities in Corporate Sector of Bangladesh’. The project was meant for capacitating potential young persons with disabilities as well as lobbying with the potential employers to facilitate decent employment for those youngsters.
THERE, I first met Pallab Kumar Basak among the twenty project trainee, who was indeed one of the promising apprentices. In the beginning of my profession, I was totally unaware about the hindrances and difficulties the youths with disabilities face to get employed. I, myself, perhaps was not also quite convinced. Can youths with disabilities be worthy of decent employment opportunities? Participants like Pallab proved these conventional myths completely wrong. Five years later I can boldly cite, ‘Pallab has proved to be one of my efficient colleagues in ActionAid Bangladesh’.
Pallab is now working in our Human Resource and Organisation Development (HROD) department as an Associate Officer. Reaching to this point was not at all easy for him. He suffered from polio when he was only four months. Consequently, Pallab grew up with difficulty to walk. He uses caliper (an assistive devise) as a support to walk. Because of the challenge, my colleague had to undertake his high school studies mostly from home. Later, he graduated in Crop Botany from Bangladesh Agricultural University, but not without facing barriers. `It had only been possible because of my helpful friends and compassionate teachers’, Pallab said as he shared the memories of overcoming those barriers. But the struggle was yet to end – a new challenge appeared on his horizon as he started looking for vacancies in 2005.
Pallab sat for the 27th Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination in 2005, passed the written test successfully – but did not get the job. He sat for Bankers Recruitment examination of the Government of Bangladesh as well as attempted for some private banks. In most of the cases, he passed the written tests successfully, but did not get the YES CARD from the interview boards. WHY? His disability stood up as a big question mark before the employers.
At this point of time, Pallab joined ActionAid’s abovementioned training programme and completes a 6-monthlong internship in the HROD department. Following that, he tried for another corporate job in 2007. And his experience was not pleasant. Pallab scored top in the written test for the position of HR Officer. The viva board asked him to walk for a while in front of them to prove his competency! And ultimately he was rejected.
Pallab told me when he joined ActionAid in November, 2008 as a full time professional.
It was the most erratic humiliation I have ever faced. I never felt disability a barrier to work as a HR (human resource) professional, but our society compelled me to think that way
In between, he worked for Handicap International for eleven months. He has done Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with a major in Human Resource Management (HRM) as a part-time student while working for ActionAid. Pallab is now a role model for other youths with disabilities and an eye-opener for us too.
In Bangladesh, there are problems in the entire system of education and mentoring arrangements which are multiplied, for persons with disabilities, by the hurdles lay within the infrastructure of these institutions. These difficulties severely affect and restrict youths with disabilities to become an efficient workforce. But I reckon that the unprogressive mindset of the employers hinders them more to get a decent employment. It should also be noted that in our National Youth Policy 2003, this group is hardly mentioned. There is a quota of one percent for the employment of youths with disabilities in government services, but it is being merely implemented. The scenario in private sectors and of self-employment is also not optimistic.
Pallab shared, amid a tea break, with me last Thursday (8th December, 2011)
This (ActionAid) is a disability friendly organisation… I want to see more and more young persons with disabilities are securing decent employment here and in other organisations too
Like us, the non-disabled youths, youths with disabilities are national asset. We – all the youths – must work together to change the dominant state of mind of our society and create an enabling environment. As an young disability rights activist, I strongly demand for equitable employment opportunity for the youths with disabilities in Bangladesh. By excluding them, we cannot achieve our development targets let alone the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); the vision of building a developed Bangladesh may never come true.
