NCPEDP launches scholarship for disabled youth in India in memory of Javed Abidi

The National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) has partnered with Azim Premji Foundation (The Philanthropy) to launch a three-year grassroots fellowship programme for disabled youth. This is targeted at disabled youth who are interested in the development sector, particularly Disability Rights and Inclusion, and with a focus on policy and practice.

This year, the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), the leading cross-disability NGO marks 25 years of its existence. To mark the occasion the organisation has launched a fellowship programme for selected 25 disabled youth.

Called the NCPEDP-Javed Abidi Fellowship on Disability, this was announced on 11 June, which is also the birth anniversary of the late Javed Abidi, one of the pioneers of the disability rights movement in India and NCPEDP’s former director.

The goal of the scholarship is to develop a second line of leadership for the Indian disability movement with in-depth grassroots knowledge and hands-on experience of urban and rural realities in matters of data driven and evidence-based policy analysis.

Equipping disabled youth with critical leadership skills

At the end of the three-year fellowship, the programme may seek to go further and give an opportunity to a selected few to ideate and intervene directly with stakeholders resonating further the ethos of disability movement in an entrepreneurial environment by way of seed funding.

“Given that we are in the midst of the pandemic, people living with disabilities have been the worst affected”, said Arman Ali, Executive Director, NCPEDP.”There is a struggle for food, access to basic healthcare, education and livelihood opportunities. The disability rights movement and inclusion of people with disabilities have been pushed back two decades! The fellows will help document such stories of struggle and good practices from all over the country to help build back better”.

The fellowship will give the selected disabled youth an opportunity to work with NCPEDP’s State Partners and State disability leaders to get an in-depth experience on policy level issues and challenges at the grassroots level. They will also get knowledge based support in the form of training and capacity building workshops on rights-based mechanisms and disability rights, mentorship under field experts and a competitive stipend of up to ₹ 25,000 to meet necessary needs during the fellowship programme.

“Through this fellowship intends to not only create a repository of data-driven and evidence-based research and policy papers on various disability related issues produced by the fellows themselves but, also envisions to produce a second line of leadership for the disability movement in India,” said Som Mittal, Chairperson, NCPEDP.

The chosen youth will get a platform to interact and network with pan-India disability leaders, activists, experts and professionals in the sector and gain from their experiences the necessary skills to become leaders of tomorrow.
They will also get an opportunity to work on a preferred disability theme/area of choice and develop an action plan for policy and behavioural change, create and implement a specific advocacy campaign strategy on a critical issue, develop an informal cross-disability network, and become a trainer on disability rights awareness.

The fellowship programme will begin from 1 September 2021. The application is now open and the last date to apply is 11 August 2021. A total of 25 fellows will be selected for year one of the fellowship programme. Young women with disabilities are highly encouraged to apply, says the NCPEDP.

Eligibility criteria

• Applicants must be Indian citizens between 18-28 years.
• Minimum secondary level of education.
• Preference for disabled youth l be given to youth with disabilities. However, exceptional youth without disabilities with prior (academic/work/volunteer) experience in the disability sector will also be considered.
• Fundamental knowledge of disability issues and other cross-cutting development issues in India is essential.
• Knowledge of written/ spoken English or Hindi or any one of the regional languages is essential.
• Basic research and analysis skills, and experience in writing will be considered an asset.
• Prior experience of working/volunteering in the development sector particularly in the disability sector will be an added advantage.

The last date to apply for the fellowship via the NCPEDP website here or by mailing to ncpedp.fellowship@gmail.com before 11 August.