Mumbai: The National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) has collaborated with Bajaj Finserv Limited to launch a scholarship program of upto Rs 1 lakh targeting disabled students. In an effort to enhance capacity building of disabled students and apprise persons with disabilities (PwDs), parents, and social workers about their rights and the welfare policies designed for their benefit, an awareness workshop was organized on Saturday. Experts from diverse sectors joined and shared their expertise.

The NCPEDP-Bajaj Finserv Scholarship program is designed to financially assist 100 disabled students from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, who are pursuing education at various levels, including Secondary, Senior Secondary, and Higher Education.

Arman Ali, Executive Director of NCPEDP said, "We are dedicated to providing quality education as a means of empowerment for every disabled student.”

The Mumbai workshop follows a similar workshop in Lucknow earlier. “This is our sincere initiative to empower the disabled students and we are looking forward to organizing more such workshops in the future,” added Ali.

The workshop, held in partnership with Sol’s ARC at K J Somaiya College of Engineering, featured informative sessions. "Accessibility and Financial Literacy" was led by Amar Jain, Co-founder of Mission Accessibility, while "Getting Job Ready" was presented by Ivasmita Baruah, and Sunil Bankar from V-shesh. These sessions proved highly insightful and benefited the attendees, which included disabled students, social workers, students without disabilities, and parents.

Akshay Jain, Assistant Program Manager for Advocacy at NCPEDP, emphasized the crucial role of the younger generation in shaping the future of people with disabilities. He highlighted the potential of education to raise awareness beyond expectations and emphasized the need for regular workshops like this as catalysts for positive change.

The scholarship program itself will encompass tuition fees, costs related to assistive technology, and other relevant expenses for disabled students, tailored to their individual needs and budgets. This initiative stands as a testament to the joint commitment of NCPEDP and Bajaj Finserv towards promoting education and empowerment among disabled students. /BI/