In the ‘new normal’, technology is playing a big role, as job opportunities can be traced to Google for many markets. That is why many differently abled are coming forward to mark their presence by gaining knowledge to contribute. According to the headline recently published by NITI Aayog, ‘Indian education sector is ready for disruption by artificial intelligence’ it shows that India, by 2030, will have the largest number of youth in the world. According to the report, AI has proved favorable for the disabled to participate in the economy as more and more organizations are looking to hire people with disabilities.

Also, as the world embraces AI, organizations are now keen to create jobs for the disabled with the help of AI where they are becoming even more inclusive. According to the State of Education Report for India 2019, there are 78 lakh children with disabilities in India, where 61% of the children in the age group of 5 to 19 years were attending educational institutions. To create an inclusive environment for persons with disabilities in urban and rural India, NGOs and Government are working towards the goal of making them visible in the society through emotional, financial and social support. Many NGOs are running several campaigns to provide skills like mobile repairing, sewing and computer skills for free.

Some industries such as cottage industries, call centres, professional career consultants, data entry, teaching, translation and digital marketing markets are proposing equal opportunities for the disabled during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, disabled people are also providing their services in this market from home. It has become easy for them to stand out from the crowd.

It is a challenging task to encourage and motivate the disabled in today’s scenario due to their living environment. But in the recent Paralympics, Devendra Jhajharia, Para-athlete Yogesh Kathunia, Shooter Avani Lekhara and Sundar Singh Gurjar have set a high place for all, which shows that the name of a person can be brought to the fore with constant efforts in the right direction. Meanwhile, the government came forward to reward him for becoming a national inspirational figure with financial help for motivating others like him.

NGOs and non-profit organizations for the disabled have become socially inclusive. The new normal has raised standards, yet has brought many opportunities that have been beneficial to individuals with disabilities.

 Author of the article- Mr. Prashant Agarwal, President of Narayan Seva Sansthan. NSS is a  non-profit organization serving differently abled and underprivileged individuals.