Kathmandu, May 19:

Given opportunity, people living with disabilities can prove their potential to perform their duties on par with normal people.

Just take the case of Kathmandu Model Hospital, where four visually impaired — two men and two women — are smartly handling the responsibilities of the front desk.

Twenty-seven-year-old Gauri Thapa has been working there for the past three years and has excelled in her job to communicate with people over the phone, convey messages and attend the visitors.

“I remember the phone numbers of almost all the people concerned, doctors and hospital staffers, but when their phone numbers change, we seek help from others,” said Thapa.

“People visiting the hospital sometimes complain about delayed service, but change their attitude when they come to know that visually impaired ones are handling the job,” Thapa, a masters’ degree student, said, adding that initially there were difficulties in remembering and pronouncing medical terminologies, but later she got used to them.

A total of 40 visually impaired visually women are employed in professional jobs, while 160 men have secured these jobs, according to the record at the Nepal Association of the Blind (NAB). There are 480 visually impaired School Leaving Certificate graduates.

“The number of visually impaired people performing administrative jobs is not bad, but there are approximately 200,000 visually impaired in the country and they are deprived of their basic rights, services, facilities and opportunities,” said Nara Bahadur Limbu, president of the NAB.

“While providing employment opportunities to the disabled people, their capability, education and skills to perform the job needs to be equally considered,” said Amar Gurung, director of the Sindu Improvement Society — an organisation working for visually impaired — who has also employed a visually impaired in the front desk. Gurung said visually impaired persons need to be given first priority provided they are competent.

Among the other organisations that have employed visually impaired are: Action Aid - Nepal, Helen Keller International, Tilganga Eye Hospital, Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus, Mahendra Ratna Campus, Birendra Multiple Campus and Gokhuri Higher Secondary School.

The blinds’ movement against the government, which started in 1990, has been able to grab 180 seats for the blinds in the teaching profession till date. “This year, we managed to secure a quota of 21 posts for teachers in public schools,” Limbu said, adding that the teachers are employed from the primary school level to part and full time lecturers in the government colleges.

The government policy to exempt tax to the factories that employ disabled people would influence these sectors and help them find jobs in the factories, he added.