Hellen Keller once said “All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming.” The principle aim of Project Empower is to be the means for that ‘overcoming’. Project ‘Empower’has been designed with the view of making the differently-abled independent. Hence, its activities have been fashioned in way that will prepare differently abled students to pursue any career of their choice consistent with their qualifications and abilities.

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in pursuance of the provisions of Section 32 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 {1 of 1996}, had reviewed jobs notified in 2007 and prepared a detailed list of Groups A, B, C and D posts which were identified suitable for persons with disabilities. The list of jobs reserved for the PWD category range from simple clerical desk jobs to jobs such as accounting, and even lectureship. In fact, a lot of private companies are laying down best practices by employing PWDs in various positions. However, often PWDs are unable to avail these jobs due to inadequate knowledge of these provisions, low confidence, or sometimes because they do not possess certain professional or soft skills to be employed. It was to address these inadequacies that National NGO partnered with Save the Quest to launch Project ‘Empower’. 

Our National Training Center in Vijay Nagar, North Delhi, is the pioneer center operating under the aegis of Project ‘Empower.’ Currently in its pilot stage, the project involves thirty students from the North Campus of Delhi University, who are being trained in basic computer operations along with development of their soft skills in order to become more productive assets in the workspace. Apart from that, we have a batch of visually impaired students who are taught separately with the help of a visually impaired tutor.

Besides computer training, a soft-skills teacher along with a special educator help the engaged students to enhance their interpersonal skills, interview skills, confidence building measures etc. The National Training Center in Vijay Nagar, North Delhi, also acts as a placement cell for the college students besides providing counseling and organizing other professional workshops. The center also runs a special batch for a group of enthusiastic, underprivileged children who don’t have access to computers.

Activities

1. Basic computer training 

2. Soft skills training

3. Personality Development

4. Career counselling

5. Searching job opportunities for PWDs (Govt. & Private)

6. Tracking scholarships, grants, fellowships, awards and financial aid available for PWDs

7. Organizing and keeping track of career and higher education fairs