The Real Challenge:

As quoted in the National Action Plan for Skills Training for Persons with Disabilities about 13.4 Million (8.8 million in rural India and 4.6 million in rural India) PwDs are in employable age group. (7.8 million males and 5.6 million females). The skill training gap today is 9.8 million, which will go up to 10.8 million by 2022, if no serious intervention is done.

Persons with Disabilities who are young adults and want to be productive keep themselves occupied by getting into vocational training programs in NGOs or in mainstream vocational training institutes like polytechnics or ITIs; some of them start small businesses if they have the resources and are supported. But very often many of them tend to become directionless. In many cases, they spend their time doing small household work and end up feeling frustrated and depressed. For persons who are not independent, literally spend their time doing nothing except watching TV.

ATPAR works to build abilities and create opportunities for People with Disabilities and other diverse groups and enable them to have equal access to competitive sustainable livelihoods for their economic prosperity.

ATPAR supports in providing Skill Training, Career Counseling & Skill Assessment by providing guidance in identifying the right courses suitable to individuals and also facilitates professionals and organizations to choose market linked trainings which are innovative solutions for employability especially in the Rehab Sector. ATPAR advises on sustainable models to NGO’s which develops job market readiness outcomes.

Entrepreneurship Development & Management Training

ATPAR is committed to address and bridge one of this gap among Persons with Disabilities who are unable to secure jobs in open empowerment and  have chosen self-employment or entrepreneurship as livelihood option but find it very challenging to leverage opportunities due to lack of knowledge, skills  or resources.

ATPAR conducts Trainings on Entrepreneurship Development in partnership with NIESBUD/NSIC/VRC and other Government ,Corporate, NGO or Institutional Partners for entrepreneurs in start up phase and provides  mentoring and other support to enable them to operate their businesses efficiently and sustainably.

The training is open to Individuals/Entrepreneurs with Disabilities / NGOs working with Persons with Disabilities or Family member  who wish to find answers for their following challenges-

• Lack of knowledge of running their enterprise more efficiently
• Currently not Financially Included or able get loans
• Seeking a Marketable idea /venture
• Not able to access mainstream professional support due to lack of resources / connects and opportunities

ATPAR support to Entrepreneurs

• To enable participants to get clear understanding about the concept of micro enterprise / small business, their role in livelihood development
• To orient participants with essential tools and skills for managing / designing an effective micro enterprise / small business program through a certified course.
• Create awareness on Entrepreneurship models which are more sustainable and facilitate “Job seekers to become Job Providers”
• Develop Training content and program in consultation with Professionals and Professional Institutes
• ATPAR would provide online incubation and mentoring support to all participants and provide opportunities, mentor and give right connects where required
• Advocate for their financial inclusion
• Seek corporate support to adopt and support ventures of Persons with Disabilities
• ATPAR also would open marketing channels and provide design & packaging support and facilitate certifications and standardizations where required.
• ATPAR would also undertake Capacity Audits on behalf of funders to gauge the entrepreneurial potential of the individuals
• The Participants get registered to the network of Entrepreneurs with Disabilities (Divyangjan’s) for support & mentoring

Career Counseling & Vocational Training

• Guide and train Rehab professionals to move away from traditional models of vocational training and skill persons with disabilities and young adults on market linked livelihood opportunities
• We provide Career guidance to Families & Persons with Disabilities on choosing appropriate training matching their skills and abilities.

Product Assessment & Design Development

In order to bring more focus on market demand ATPAR provides Product Assessment, Designer support and training workshops on new Designs to the NGOs and Artisans. We support the artisans with new innovative Ideas in the Design and packaging.