today we met the deputy commissioner and the assistant commissioner of the state of meghalaya for the persons with disabilities with regards to folow up about the memorandum and demanded that the state Unit DPO Association for Employment of Divyangjan have been put up from four months ago related to implement of the RPWD Act 2016 to provide the jobs vacancy for the people living with disability like to identify the vacancies which ment for the people living with disabilities, including the backlock vacancies and others which we have included in the previous memorandum. so, the meeting was quite positive reply from the office of the commissioner of persons with disability of meghalaya. they have started the process to find out to all type of departments for the vacancies that based for the PWDs and they are keep following from time to time for the jobs updates from various offices government, they said. hence, as of now they have received from 50 pluss department/offices who had submit to them about this matter. but there is from 10 departments who are ready to proceed with this and then they will finalize it very soon and they say that they will give a jobs as a chrismas gift for the people living with disabilities in this upcoming month through that 10 departments Resources. but they did not mentioned that from which is that 10 departments they are talking about. hence, the organization would like to cope up with them to bare and waiting for the results as per the discussioned of today. and then the organization have been also requested the state commissioner office to do the proper Screen about how to get the disability certificates so that the fake disabilities certificates will not be happends. because our organization have seen that there was so many people who are tried to take Disadvantage of our rights by claming of themselves as the PWDs in our country just to get an the easy jobs, hence, we the people living with disability are suffered a lots in our daily lives. not just that, the Blind Lead Trust organization also got the opportunity to submit one proposal about the Specialise Manpower placement agency to help the government and especially to the persons with disabilities. because the blind lead trust found that currently the problems is because of the Miscommunication in between many NGOs, companies courborates including various departments of the government they want to help they are starting to understand. but the challenges is they don’t know how to help and how to employees for the people living with disabilities. they do not know that, what kind of works that they can do, and how to make them Comfortable of their jobs. therefore, the blind lead trust would like to proposed the solution that how we can solves the issues together. how to make things ready to perform by the PWDs for their jobs. and how to Sensitization and provide awareness to the employers so that they will know that what is the ways to give the jobs for the people living with disabilities, especially for the visually impaired. how to treat them Equally and what is the RPWD act says related to the PWDs rights. and many things to move forwards. it might be not a good idea. but we are trying to bring the solutions to the government as our level best once they are also complained that they have Limited manpower within their offices. and now, the blind lead trust organization would like to request and announce to the people living with disabilities community to please enrole of themselves submit their CV to the blind lead trust through our organization website so that we can find out and check like which jobs is Suitable for them and what kind of skills they need to prepares and how to collaborates With other colleagues in offices and how they can stand on their own feets. so, through our organization we humble to appeal our community to let us work together in oreder to bring for the changes and development. hence, we are not say that we can promissed you for the jobs. but if you submit your CV to us. we will recoment your names to the employers. Part 1: Full Details of the Follow-Up on the Four-Month Memorandum and the Meeting with the Deputy Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner To provide complete details regarding today’s meeting, our delegation from the state Unit DPO Association for Employment of Divyangjan, working together with Blind Lead Trust, went directly to the office of the state commissioner for persons with disabilities of Meghalaya. We sat down with both the deputy commissioner and the assistant commissioner to take up a serious review and follow-up regarding the official memorandum and demands that our organization put up four months ago. Four months ago, our community submitted this memorandum because we saw that the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act 2016 was not being implemented properly in our state of Meghalaya, especially when it comes to the matter of employment and livelihood. In that memorandum, our demand was very clear: the government must implement the RPWD Act 2016 in letter and in spirit to provide job vacancies for people living with disabilities across all departments. We demanded that the government must actively identify which vacancies are meant for people living with disabilities, in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the law. In addition to identifying new vacancies, our memorandum placed heavy emphasis on the issue of backlog vacancies. For many years, vacancies that were supposed to go to persons with disabilities were left unfilled, ignored, or allowed to accumulate without any special recruitment drive being conducted. We included all these backlog vacancies and other related issues in our previous memorandum, demanding that the authorities do not let these posts disappear or get converted to other categories. We made it clear that these vacancies belong by law to the people living with disabilities, and the government has a statutory duty to calculate every single backlog post from previous years across all departments and advertise them so that qualified candidates from our community can finally get the jobs they deserve. During our meeting today, the reply from the office of the commissioner of persons with disability of Meghalaya was quite positive. The deputy commissioner and the assistant commissioner listened carefully to our follow-up points and shared with us the exact steps they have taken over the past four months since receiving our memorandum. They informed us that they have officially started the process to find out from all types of government departments what vacancies exist that are based and reserved for PWDs. They explained that their office is not sitting idle; they are continuously following up from time to time for job updates from various government offices across the state to collect all necessary data. Through this continuous follow-up, the commissioner’s office stated that, as of now, they have received submissions and reports from 50 plus departments and offices who have responded to them regarding this matter of PWD vacancies. This shows that the momentum has started and that departments are being reminded of their legal responsibilities. Most importantly, the officials shared that out of these 50 plus departments, there are already 10 departments who are fully ready to proceed with the recruitment process. They stated that they will finalize the details very soon, and they shared with us that they want to give these jobs as a Christmas gift for the people living with disabilities in this upcoming month through the resources and openings of those 10 departments. However, one important thing to note is that during the meeting, they did not mention or disclose which specific 10 departments they are talking about. They did not give us the names of those 10 departments because internal administrative processes, file clearances, and formalities are still being worked out. Therefore, as an organization, we have decided that we would like to cope up with them, bear with the administrative situation, and wait patiently for the results as per the discussions held today. We will keep a close eye on this development, maintain regular communication with their office, and wait to see the final list and recruitment advertisements published so that our community members can actually benefit from this promised Christmas gift. Part 2: The Critical Issue of Proper Screening and Stopping Fake Disability Certificates During our discussion with the deputy commissioner and the assistant commissioner, our organization raised another very serious, urgent matter that directly affects our people: the problem of fake disability certificates. The organization made a strong and formal request to the state commissioner’s office to set up a proper and thorough screening process regarding how disability certificates are issued and verified, so that fake disability certificates will not happen in our state. We brought this issue forward because our organization has seen firsthand, both in our state and across the country, that there are so many people who are trying to take unfair advantage of our rights. These are non-disabled people who do not have any real disability, but they use unfair means, loopholes, or false medical claims to claim themselves as PWDs. Their only intention in getting these fake certificates is to snatch the easy jobs, age relaxations, and reserved quotas that the law created specifically for persons with disabilities. Because of this selfish and illegal behavior by non-disabled individuals, we—the genuine people living with disabilities—suffer a great deal in our daily lives. Living with a disability is not easy; we face constant barriers in our mobility, in reading and accessing information, in using public transport, and in accessing equal education. When someone who does not suffer these daily barriers buys or fakes a certificate and takes away a reserved job, a genuine disabled person who studied hard and struggled every single day is left unemployed and pushed into poverty. This is a complete injustice to our community. We explained to the commissioner’s office that if proper screening is not done immediately: Genuine visually impaired, hearing impaired, and physically disabled youth will continue to be deprived of their legal rights under the RPWD Act 2016. The 4% reservation mandated by law will be occupied by impostors who have no right to those seats. The credibility of disability certificates will be ruined in the eyes of society and government departments. Therefore, we requested that the state commissioner office coordinate with the medical boards and district authorities to implement strict verification, cross-check all certificates against the central UDID database, and conduct thorough physical and medical re-screenings of applicants before any appointment letter is issued. The office must ensure that only genuine persons living with disabilities get the benefit of these vacancies, and that anyone caught using a fake certificate faces severe legal punishment. Part 3: Blind Lead Trust Proposal for a Specialised Manpower Placement Agency to Solve Miscommunication and Support Government and Employers During the meeting today, Blind Lead Trust also got the opportunity to formally submit a comprehensive proposal regarding the establishment of a Specialised Manpower Placement Agency. This proposal was created specifically to help the government, to help prospective employers, and especially to help persons with disabilities find meaningful and sustainable employment. In our continuous work on the ground, Blind Lead Trust found that one of the biggest current problems is a deep miscommunication between many NGOs, corporate companies, private businesses, and various government departments. Through our interactions, we have seen that many of these offices and companies actually want to help. They are starting to understand that inclusion is important, and they are becoming aware of their legal obligations. However, the real challenge is that they simply do not know how to help and how to employ people living with disabilities. They face genuine confusion because: They do not know what kind of work people living with disabilities can actually do in an office. They do not know how a visually impaired person can use a computer, read official documents, manage records, or process files without seeing. They do not know what kind of tools, screen reading software like NVDA or JAWS, or accessible setups are needed to make them comfortable in their jobs. They worry that hiring a PWD will create extra burdens or that other staff members will have to do their work for them. They lack awareness about how to treat disabled employees equally and what the RPWD Act 2016 says regarding reasonable accommodation, non-discrimination, and accessibility rights. Because of this lack of practical knowledge, many employers hesitate to hire, even when they have open vacancies. Therefore, Blind Lead Trust would like to propose a practical solution so that we can solve these issues together. Through our proposed Specialised Manpower Placement Agency, we want to bridge this gap completely: Making Things Ready for PWDs to Perform Their Jobs: We will assess job roles inside offices, identify what specific duties can be performed smoothly by persons with disabilities, and guide employers on setting up accessible computer systems and barrier-free workstations so that disabled employees can work independently and efficiently. Sensitization and Awareness for Employers: We will provide direct sensitization and awareness training to employers, managers, and administrative staff. We will show them practical ways to give jobs to people living with disabilities, especially for the visually impaired. We will teach them how to interact naturally, how to treat disabled staff equally with dignity and respect, and what the RPWD Act 2016 legally requires regarding their rights and working conditions. Overcoming Limited Government Manpower: During our discussion, the officials also mentioned that they face challenges of limited manpower within their own offices. A government office with limited staff cannot handle the detailed, day-to-day work of job mapping, training, sensitizing every private company, and monitoring individual work setups. Blind Lead Trust is stepping forward to take on this responsibility. We told the government that it might not be a perfect idea, but we are trying our level best to bring practical solutions to the table to assist the government where they lack manpower, so that we can move forward together and achieve real results. Part 4: Urgent Announcement and Call to the Community to Enroll and Submit Their CV via the Blind Lead Trust Website Now, alongside our advocacy with the government and our proposal to employers, Blind Lead Trust would like to make an urgent request and public announcement to the entire community of people living with disabilities across Meghalaya. We warmly appeal to all persons living with disabilities to please enroll yourselves and submit your Curriculum Vitae (CV) to Blind Lead Trust through our official organization website at blindlead.org. We are asking you to submit your CV so that our team can review your profile in detail and carry out the following essential work: Checking Which Jobs Are Suitable: We will look at your educational background, your work experience, your personal talents, and your specific disability condition to find out and check what kind of jobs are most suitable for you, whether in government departments, private companies, banks, or non-profit offices. Identifying What Skills You Need to Prepare: If there are technical skills you currently lack—such as operating computers with screen readers (NVDA/JAWS), typing, formatting documents, or speaking in office environments—we will identify those gaps and help you prepare the exact skills you need before you go for interviews. Learning How to Collaborate with Office Colleagues: Working in an office requires teamwork. We will provide guidance on office dynamics, professional etiquette, how to communicate comfortably with non-disabled colleagues, how to work together smoothly on team tasks, and how to handle any workplace misunderstandings with confidence. Learning How to Stand on Your Own Feet: Our ultimate goal is for every person living with a disability to stand on their own feet, earn their own living, achieve financial independence, and live a life of dignity without having to depend on anyone else. Through our organization, we humbly appeal to our community: let us work together in order to bring real change and development. Real change cannot happen if we stay isolated in our homes and wait for someone else to solve our problems. We must unite, organize our data, build our skills, and show the government and private employers that our community is educated, trained, and ready to work. An Honest Word to Our Community: We want to be completely honest, open, and transparent with everyone: we are not saying that we can promise you a job. Blind Lead Trust cannot guarantee or promise anyone an automatic government or private job, because getting a job ultimately depends on official vacancies, recruitment criteria, exams, and individual performance. However, we give you this solid commitment: if you submit your CV to us, we will actively recommend your name to employers. Whenever government departments, private firms, or corporate offices reach out to us or announce openings, we will put forward your profile, endorse your abilities, fight for your accessible interview conditions, and do everything in our power to help you secure that position. Please visit blindlead.org, upload your CV, share this announcement with every disabled friend, family member, and organization across Meghalaya, and let us work hand in hand to achieve our rights, our dignity, and our independence.
