Despite several initiatives and plans to improve the inclusiveness of employment for people with disability, Bhutan still has a long way to go. This is according to people living with disability, the labour ministry and the relevant stakeholders. In a way to improve the inclusiveness, a four-day workshop was held in Thimphu recently.
27-year-old Phurpa Wangdi graduated from Sherubtse College in 2019. He was supposed to complete his graduation in 2016. However, a tragic accident towards the end of 2015 left him in a wheelchair.
But Phurba did not stop there. After his graduation, he has been working closely with Draktsho as a volunteer. He said he applied for several jobs. However, accessibility came as a major challenge while seeking employment.
Today he is also attending the advocacy workshop on inclusive employment opportunities and social participation for people with disability.
“As of now, our country is at the grassroots level when it comes to advocating people to include people living with a disability. I am a physically challenged person and in the past five years, I have applied for several jobs. Accessibility has been the main challenge because I do not have access to job vacancies that are not announced online. Even if I access information about vacancies, I cannot go to the offices because most of the interviews are conducted in offices and the offices are mostly upstairs. So I could not attend the job interviews,” he said.
The Workshop also brought together relevant stakeholders like Druk Green Power Corporation, Bank of Bhutan, private organisations and media organisations among others.
“There is the need for their accessibility rights. People should be open and create job criteria that are suitable for people with disability. We should also design the scope of work where they fit in the workplace. That’s where we need to work on,” said Namgay Lhamo, a participant, from the Bank of Bhutan.
“In our country, when it comes to people with disability, it is difficult to get opportunities. Accessibility is the main issue and even at workplaces, the environment is not disable friendly. Although equal opportunities are given, people with disability are left behind because it is difficult for them. Society is also not so ready to accept people with disability,” added Yonten Jamtsho, from the Disability People’s Organisation.
The Labour Ministry also said a lot more should be done although the ministry is carrying out various initiatives to give equal opportunities to people with disability.
“A lot is being currently done in terms of inclusivity in national employment policies for PWDs. But also there is a lot that needs to be done. We have noticed that there is still a disparity that exists in the rural pockets in the country. Currently, we have the youth engagement learning programme. One of the most recent training we have launched is the critical skills training where we specifically created a programme for the PWDs,” said Kesang Tshokey from the Labour Ministry.
Meanwhile, the workshop held discussions and presentations on self-determination and self-advocacy, principles of inclusive employment, workplace and training accommodation and adaptations among others.
Kinley Dem
