Metro’s inclusive hiring in Hyderabad setting benchmark

The company is planning to replicate the model in 20 stores across India

07.06.2018
Hyderabad: Business-to-business wholesaler, Metro Cash & Carry India, which caters to traders, hotels, restaurants, caterers, offices and institutions is taking initiatives towards inclusive hiring, ensuring diversity.

The company has 28 differently abled (deaf and dumb) people across its Hyderabad stores and is making efforts to increase this number in the city, as well as across India.

Metro Cash & Carry India, director & head-Human Resources, Udaiy Khanna, told Telangana Today, “This initiative began through a partnership with two local NGOs-Disability Rights Promotion International (DRPI) and Youth4Jobs, has seen fruitful outcome. We have piloted hiring differently abled persons in our Hyderabad stores located in Kukatpally and Shamshabad, first time in the country. These people work in the replenishment sections of the stores, which are non-technical jobs. They converse using sign language. We have imparted training to them with the help of the NGOs.”

“We have taken measures to sensitise the management, supervisors and the entire team working with them in respective stores, through customised workshops. Though initial weeks had been challenging but gradually the differently abled employees had been able to get on to their roles. There is a healthy mutual acceptance both from the employees and the rest of the team. Going forward, we will be building stores that are disabled-friendly as we look to hire more people, to give them equal job opportunity,” he added.

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh teams have come forward voluntarily to encourage such hiring in their stores. The company is carefully documenting all the learning from the pilot hiring it has made in these places. The pilot project has proved that these individuals are productive and there are no issues relating to attrition and discipline with the different abled employees. Several of them have already won performance awards.

He informed, the company is retaining the same performance appraisal norms for these individuals competing with others on every parameter, as they have already demonstrated that they can challenge anyone, and they don’t need any different treatment.

When asked if the company is replicating this hiring model in other stores across the country, Khanna said, “We are keen to expand our initiative. We should be able to replicate this in at least 15-20 stores across India. We will also be offering training and apprenticeship opportunities for different abled. We will be in a position to hire at least 100 differently abled persons in Telangana and AP (Vijayawada) stores in the next six months.”

Metro Cash & Carry is the wholesale division of Metro, a wholesale and food retail based in Germany. Metro Cash & Carry generated sales of about €30 billion in the financial year 2016-2017 and operates in 25 countries over 750 wholesale markets with about 1,08,000 employees worldwide.

Metro Cash & Carry entered India in 2003, and operates 25 wholesale distribution centres under the brand Metro Wholesale, including six in Bengaluru, four in Hyderabad, two each in Mumbai and Delhi, and one each in Kolkata, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Zirakpur, Amritsar, Vijayawada, Ahmedabad, Surat, Indore, Lucknow and Meerut.

Geeta who returned from Pakistan meets four suitors

Indore, June 7 Four suitors, including a government employee and a pizza shop worker, today met Geeta, a hearing and speech impaired woman who returned from Pakistan after accidentally landing in that country as a child, in Indore.

A campaign to find a suitable match for Geeta is being conducted under Ministry of External Affairs and a Facebook advert had been put out in this regard.

A total of 50 people from various parts of the country had expressed their desire to tie knot with Geeta. However, only 14 proposals were short-listed after Geeta's consent and six of them were invited to meet her in Indore today.

"The campaign to find a suitable match for Geeta was being run under the guidance of the Ministry of External Affairs. Six persons from different parts of the country were invited today to Indore to meet her. Of them, four men turned up today," said Madhya Pradesh Social Justice and Empowerment Department Joint Director BC Jain told PTI.

He said Geeta has not yet taken a final call on the prospective groom.

"Geeta will meet eight men (out of the 14 suitors) tomorrow," Jain said.

However, Geeta has put certain pre-conditions.

Gyanendra Purohit, a sign language expert associated with the campaign to find a life partner for Geeta, said that "Through the sign language, Geeta has said that if she likes a non-deaf and mute man, he will have to learn the sign language so that both of them can communicate after their marriage. In addition, her future husband will have to help her in finding her parents".

When asked about the profile of four men who met Geeta today, sources said they included a moulding machine operator, an Excise Department employee, and a Pizza shop worker.

Among them, one Sachin Pal (27), an Indore-based moulding machine operator who is partially hearing impaired, refused to accept the conditions laid by Geeta.

Other suitors include Arun Namdev (26), an employee of Excise Department in Tikamgarh district, and Ritesh Patel (26) who works in a Pizza shop in Ahmedabad. Both are deaf-and-mute like Geeta.

Geeta also met one Rajkumar Swarnakar (29), a resident of Bhopal, who is physically-challenged.

Purohit said he had posted a matrimonial advertisement on Facebook for Geeta on April 10 after meeting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Geeta is currently staying in the premises run by "Mook Badhir Sangathan", an NGO, under the supervision of Social Justice Department.

In the last two and a half years, more than ten families from different parts of the country have claimed that Geeta was their missing daughter. But none of these claims could be verified in the government's investigations.

Geeta was found by Pakistani Rangers in Samjhauta Express at Lahore Railway Station when she was around eight.

She was brought back to India on October 26, 2015 on intervention of Swaraj.

NRI donates Rs 1,35,000 to deaf & dumb school

Bathinda, June 7
A US-based NRI, Dr Sukhdev Singh Grover, member, Foundation for World Health, has donated Rs 1,35,000 (US dollars 2000) to Mahant Gurbanta Dass School for deaf and dumb.

This is the sixth year in a row that Dr Grover has sent the money for this institution. A successful chest specialist in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Dr Grover hails from Mehma Sawai village in Bathinda and is known by local residents as a voluntary social worker who has always come for help when it comes to the betterment of society.

Dr Grover’s nephew, Tinku Grover, gave the cheque on his behalf to the Deputy Commissioner, Diprava Lakra, and Red Cross secretary Naveen Gadwal.

The Deputy Commissioner and the secretary appreciated the gesture which came in the shape of donation and said the money would be used to provide more facilities to students.

மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகள் கணக்கெடுப்பு துவக்கம்

07.06.2018, சென்னை:''தமிழகத்தில், மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகளை கணக்கெடுக்க, அரசு நடவடிக்கை எடுத்து வருகிறது,'' என, சமூக நலத்துறை அமைச்சர், சரோஜா தெரிவித்தார்.

சட்டசபையில் நேற்று நடந்த விவாதம்:
தி.மு.க., - மா.சுப்பிரமணியன்: மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகளுக்கு தனி துறையை, கருணாநிதி ஏற்படுத்தி தந்தார். அப்போது, ஏழு பிரிவுகள் மட்டும், மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகள் பட்டியலில் இருந்தன. தற்போது, மத்திய அரசு சட்டத்தின்படி, 21 பிரிவுகள் சேர்க்கப்பட்டுள்ளன.
பழைய கணக்கெடுப்பின்படி, 11.79 லட்சம் மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகள் மட்டுமே உள்ளனர். புதிய சட்டத்தின்படி கணக்கெடுப்பு நடத்தினால், 50 லட்சம் பேர் இருக்கலாம். அவர்களைக் கண்டறிந்து, நலத்திட்ட உதவிகளை வழங்க வேண்டும்.

தி.மு.க., ஆட்சியில், சென்னை மாநகராட்சி சார்பில், முகாம் நடத்தப்பட்டு, மாற்றுத் திறனாளி சான்றிதழ் வழங்கப்பட்டது. அதேபோல், தமிழகம் முழுவதும் நடத்த வேண்டும். அனைத்து மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகளும் பயன்பெறும் வகையில், மாநில தகவல் மையம் அமைக்க வேண்டும். கூட்டுறவு சங்க இயக்குனர் பதவிக்கு, மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகள் மனு தாக்கல் செய்ய, சட்டத்தில் இடமில்லை என, அதிகாரிகள் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

மின் துறை அமைச்சர் தங்கமணி: ஜெ., உத்தரவின்படி, அனைத்து ஒன்றியங்களிலும், மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகளுக்காக, மருத்துவ முகாம் நடத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது. உதவித்தொகை, 1,000 ரூபாயில் இருந்து, 1,500 ரூபாயாக உயர்த்தி வழங்கப்படுகிறது.பள்ளி கல்வி அமைச்சர் செங்கோட்டையன்: மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகளுக்கு தேவையான, அனைத்து வசதிகளையும், அரசு செய்து வருகிறது. சாலையை கடக்க, ஒலிப்பான் அமைக்கும் திட்டம் நிறைவேற்றப்பட்டுள்ளது.
எதிர்க்கட்சி தலைவர் ஸ்டாலின்: மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகள், ஐ.எப்.எஸ்., அதிகாரியாகும் போது, கூட்டுறவு சங்க இயக்குனராக முடியாதா?
முதல்வர் பழனிசாமி: கூட்டுறவு சங்க இயக்குனர் பதவிக்கு, எழுதப் படிக்க தெரிந்தவர்கள், யார் வேண்டுமானாலும் போட்டியிடலாம். பார்வையற்ற மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகள் போட்டியிடுவதில் சிக்கல் உள்ளது. இது தொடர்பாக, நீதிமன்றத்தில் வழக்கு நிலுவையில் உள்ளது.

சமூக நலத் துறை அமைச்சர் சரோஜா: மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகளை கண்டறிய, வீடு வீடாகச் சென்று, மருத்துவப் பரிசோதனை செய்யப்பட்டது. அனைத்து மாவட்டங்களிலும், 20 ஆயிரத்து, 600 மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகள் கண்டறியப்பட்டுள்ளனர். மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகளை கணக்கெடுக்க, அரசு நடவடிக்கை எடுத்து வருகிறது.இவ்வாறு விவாதம் நடந்தது.

புதிய அறிவிப்புகள் என்ன

மாற்று திறனாளிகள் நலத்துறை விவாத முடிவில், துறை அமைச்சர் சரோஜா வெளியிட்ட அறிவிப்புகள்:* அனைத்து மாவட்டங்களிலும், இரண்டு ஆண்டுகளுக்குள், சிறப்பு குழந்தைகளுக்கான ஆரம்ப நிலை பயிற்சி மையங்கள் துவக்கப்படும். முதற்கட்டமாக, 1.57 கோடி ரூபாய் செலவில், 14 மாவட்டங்களில் துவக்கப்படும்* தன்னார்வ தொண்டு நிறுவனங்களால் நடத்தப்படும், மனவளர்ச்சி குன்றியோருக்கான, 42 பராமரிப்பு இல்லங்களில், தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்ட, ஐந்து இல்லங்களுக்கு, உட்கட்டமைப்பு வசதிகள் ஏற்படுத்தப்படும்* செவித்திறன் குறையுடையோருக்காக இயங்கும், ஒன்பது அரசு சிறப்பு பள்ளிகளில், தலா ஒரு வகுப்பறைகள், ஐந்து லட்சம் ரூபாய் செலவில், 'ஸ்மார்ட்' வகுப்பறைகளாக மாற்றப்படும்* சிறப்பு குழந்தைகளுக்கான, 21 பள்ளிகளில், 85 லட்சம் ரூபாய் செலவில், உட்கட்டமைப்பு மேம்படுத்தப்படும். மேலும், 20 பள்ளிகளில், 'கம்யூட்டர்' தொழில் பயிற்றுனர்கள் நியமிக்கப்படுவர்* மாற்று திறனாளிகள் நலனுக்காக, சிறப்பு வலைத்தளம் நிறுவப்படும். மாற்று திறனாளிகளுக்கு, சட்ட புத்தங்கள் வாங்கவும், சங்கத்தில் பதிவு செய்யவும் வழங்கப்படும், 3,000 ரூபாய் நிதியுதவி, 10 ஆயிரம் ரூபாயாக உயர்த்தப்படும்* மாற்று திறனாளிகளுக்கான சட்ட உரிமைகள் - 2016ன்படி, நியமனங்களில், 4 சதவீத இட ஒதுக்கீட்டை வழங்க, உகந்த பணியிடங்களை கண்டறிந்து, விரைவில் உத்தரவு வழங்கப்படும்.இவ்வாறு அவர் அறிவித்தார்.

Smoking during pregnancy can cause hearing loss in baby

06.06.2018
TOKYO: If you are planning to start motherhood, quit smoking, say researchers. Exposing your baby to tobacco smoke during pregnancy or after the birth may cause hearing impairment in them.

According to the researchers, babies who were exposed to smoking during pregnancy had a 68 per cent increased relative risk of developing hearing problems.

"This study clearly shows that preventing exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy and postnatally may reduce the risk of hearing problems in children," said Koji Kawakami from the Kyoto University in Japan.

The study, published in the journal Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, included data from 50,734 children aged 3 years.

Out of the group, 3.8 per cent were exposed to smoking only during pregnancy, 3.9 per cent were exposed only to second-hand smoke at 4 months and 0.9 per cent were exposed to tobacco smoke during pregnancy and at 4 months.

The results showed that the prevalence of hearing impairment among babies aged three who were exposed to smoke was 4.6 per cent while those exposed to only second-hand smoke at 4 months had a 30 per cent increased relative risk.

Children who were exposed to tobacco smoke during pregnancy and second-hand smoke at 4 months had a 2.4 times increased relative risk.

"The findings remind us of the need to continue strengthening interventions to prevent smoking before and during pregnancy and exposure to second-hand smoke in children," Kawakami added.

Four days on, West Bengal rape accused evades arrest

05..06.2018
Four days after a deaf and mute girl was allegedly raped by a local quack, not only is the accused still on the loose but also, police are yet to record the victim's statement in front of a magistrate.

According to the complaint filed by the mother of the 25-year-old victim on May 31, the incident happened on May 30 in the Dhantala area of Nadia district in West Bengal. The deaf and mute victim who had gone for a religious programme had returned home late and taking the advantage of her parents' absence, the accused, Probritto Gain, who is in his late 60s and a local quack, forcefully took her to his place and allegedly raped her.

The parents who later returned home started looking for her and found her late at night a considerable distance away from home, with her clothes torn. "Since she cannot talk, she narrated everything to her mother who filed a complaint. An investigation has been started under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code but the accused has been absconding since then," superintendent of police for Nadia district Santosh Pandey told DNA.

The victim's father alleged police apathy. "We were not at home when Gain took my daughter away to his place and raped her. He even tried to kill her to prevent word getting out but since my daughter raised an alarm, he let go of her. After the incident we had to go to the police thrice before our complaint was registered," he said, demanding Gain's immediate arrest and exemplary punishment.

Officials of Dhantala police station, however, refuted all allegations. "There was no delay in receiving the complaint and sending the girl for a medical test. There was, however, no injury mark found in the medical test on her body," said a senior official of the PS and said that they were conducting regular raids at different places to locate the accused. He, however, conceded that there had been a delay in recording her statement in front of a judicial magistrate because of her physical impairment.

Believe in all people to improve business performance: KFC

Hiring people with disability not only enhances culture but impacts the bottom line

A Fortune 500 corporation, Yum! operates the famous brands like Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut. It is one of the largest fast-food restaurant companies regarding system units with 43,617 restaurants around the world in over 135 countries.

One of the guiding principle that makes KFC a great place to work is “Believe in all people” and they have very nicely put this belief into actions. Aman Lal, Chief People Officer at KFC shares, “As a responsible employer we know that having diverse thoughts on table improves performance.” With this belief, KFC has been proactively creating employment opportunities for the specially abled thereby actively seeking a diverse workforce. Today, KFC runs more than 300 restaurants in the country and employ about over 170 specially abled employees (hearing & speech impaired) in more than 20 restaurants across the country.
Hiring Challenge:

Although the dynamics have changed over the years still there is a significantly high population who don’t find QSR (Quick Service Restaurants) exciting for various reasons, e.g., many specially abled people find QSR job profiles taxing as compared to other jobs. The nature of the job is such that it requires the person to stay on feet for the entire day.

The challenges that the company was looking to solve were:

• Sourcing candidates
• Dealing with a candidates’ preference for the government job because of a false impression that these jobs are “not- demanding” in nature

Solution - The Hiring Process:

1. Sourcing and Attracting Candidates:

To source candidates, KFC has partnered with non-profit organizations like ‘Noida Deaf Society’ and ‘Sarthak’ to hire hearing and speech impaired candidates. Employee referrals have turned out to be one of the most useful tools for KFC in recruiting people with disability as these people constitute an active community.
KFC Academy:

Due to a lack of special needs schools focused on retail, especially that focus on skill development and employability, KFC setup the “KFC Academy” which was formerly known as Yum! Academy. At this academy, KFC work on developing the right skill sets that increases employability not just with them, but across the retail sector.

The idea is to go upstream and make the hearing & speech impaired youth employable in India through this academy. It is a fully sponsored program for about 11 weeks in which they are taught English and critical skills for employment in the retail and hospitality sector. The objective is not only to employ them at the Special KFC restaurants but also to impart vocational skills that can be used at every stage of their careers in the industry.

2.Recruitment:

Customized hiring tools are used in the recruitment process. Every candidate has to go through a TMRI, i.e., Team Member Readiness Inventory assessment. It is the first step of the interview process. A TMRI consist of 30 questions which test specific competencies to perform a target job.

3.Onboarding:

KFC has a detailed orientation program for the specially abled employees. The company uses various visual training tools and technology for hearing and speech impaired candidates. They have also partnered with different organizations in different cities, who train their managers and interpreters at the specially abled restaurants. The whole store team of special KFC stores learns sign language.

Business Impact:

1.Performance & Customer Interface:

Currently, KFC employs these specially-abled candidates across the different parts of the restaurant which also includes the customer-facing roles. Akshay Katyal, Sr. Manager – RSC HR & Talent Acquisition shares, “It is delightful to share that customers are very supportive, kind & patient in their interaction with said employees, reaffirming our belief that there is a strong business case for employing the specially abled.”

2. Controlled Attrition

The company got a workforce of loyal employees and observed less attrition. KFC now intends to open a specially-abled store for every 15 new stores. In these stores, they plan to have at least 60% specially abled workforce.

KFC plans unique engagement initiatives for these candidates by working closely with their families. The company invites their parents for a roundtable conversation to understand happiness and confidence levels of said employees. Regular one-on-one is held with them to understand their pain points. The company is poised to promote their special employees to grow up the managerial hierarchy as they create aspirational role models for other similar talents. Recently their six speech and hearing impaired employees cleared their internal assessment to get promoted to shift manager level. In 2014, Yum! India was awarded the prestigious National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. The award recognizes KFC’s outstanding contribution as an employer of people with disabilities, providing them the opportunity to harness their professional aspirations and potential.

After Facebook matrimony ad, Geeta to meet 14 candidates

05.06.2018
INDORE: A swayamvar of sorts will be held for Pakistan-returned deaf-and-mute girl Geeta as she will get to select her husband from a line of suitors at a two-day event in Indore on June 7-8.

She will meet 14 candidates shortlisted by her and the administration. Six of them have no disabilities. Officials said it's important for the bride and groom to like each other, rather than matching of horoscopes. One of the conditions Geeta has is that she will marry only if the suitor completes a diploma course in sign language.

Geeta's 'matrimonial ad', for a 'smart, deaf-mute boy', was posted on Facebook in April by Indore-based sign language expert Gyanendra Purohit. It attracted around 60 marriage applications with suitors sending in CVs from across the country, including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

All the CVs were sent to the external affairs ministry, where officials shortlisted 26 candidates. Of them, the prospective bride finalized 15 for the meeting.

Following instructions from the ministry, the local administration will now organize a meeting between Geeta and the selected candidates on June 7-8 at a hostel of the social justice department in Pardeshipura. On the first day, six persons have been called and eight on the second. One of the suitors, who has a leg disability, has already met Geeta.

Of the 14 suitors invited to meet Geeta, seven are deaf-mute and an eighth has a physical challenge. Purohit, who worked as interpreter for Geeta during her initial days back in India, social justice department's joint director B S Jain and zilla panchayat CEO Neha Meena are likely to be present at the meeting and help Geeta take a decision.

According to Purohit, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has said that Geeta is India's daughter and her marriage will be organized by the government.

Geeta was found alone aboard the Samjhauta Express at Lahore when she was seven or eight years old. It is surmised that she accidentally boarded the train somewhere in India. Karachi-based Edhi Foundation took care of her while she lived in Pakistan. She returned to India in 2015.

EAR TO THE GROUND

04.06.2018
With a rise in the cases of hearing impairment among children, Monika Thakur reports that around 60 per cent of them can be prevented by early diagnosis, providing immunisation against various diseases and by regulating the use of medication

It was earth-shattering for Asha Pundir, a mother of two, when she found out that her younger son, Aditya Pundir was born with hearing impairment. They showed him to an ENT specialist who told her that four out 1,000 children are born deaf in India.

Hearing loss or hearing impairment is a partial or total inability for one to hear that may occur in one or both the ears. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) the incidence of hearing impairment is increasing in children at a very fast rate but around 60 per cent of these can be prevented by early diagnoses, by providing immunisation against various diseases and by use of certain medications.

In India, it is estimated that four lakh children at present, under the age of four are prone to hearing loss and approximately one lakh children born every year with a severe risk of hearing loss. Out of these only 2,000 children are fortunate enough to get their hearing loss treated. If right measures are not taken by 2050, over 900 million children will have severe hearing loss.

After consulting with the doctors, Aditya got Cochlear’s advance hearing implant installed in his ears and since then he is able to hear clearly and lead a normal life. “Cochlear’s implantation has given my children the freedom to dream what they want to be when they grow,” Pundir says.

Aditya shares that he loves playing guitar and listening to Ed Sheeran’s songs, while another recipient Aditya Srivastava, a cinemophile, says how he used to watch silent movies earlier but now, after getting the implant done has no restrictions while enjoying his favourite movies.

Doctors share that most of the children who couldn’t listen when they were born are now been able to hear with the advance hearing technology and have hobbies like singing, watching movies and listening to songs.

According to the 2011 India census data, hearing disability was marked as the second most common cause of disability after locomotory disability. The need of the hour is to have early screening and intervention for children with profound hearing loss. To raise awareness about Universal New-born Hearing Screening (UNHS) and urge the Government to mandate this screening, Cochlear’s Global Hearing Ambassador, cricketer Brett Lee was recently at the UNHS at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH). Leading surgeons and experts Dr Shalabh Sharma, ENT consultant Surgeon, SGRH) and Asha Agarwal, Cochlear implant consultant also joined him to talk about hearing related issues.

Lee said: “Now that we have the implanting devices, some amazing surgeons and clinicians who are doing great job, there is a need for awareness, we need people on the streets to understand that when a child is born, he has to get the screening test done which is the most important thing because this can help in early detection of the issue.”

Causes

Causes of childhood hearing loss is 40 per cent genetic causes; 31 per cent infections like measles, mumps, rubella and meningitis; 17 per cent occur due to complications at the time of birth, prematurity, low birth weight and neonatal jaundice; 4 per cent expectant mothers and newborns unknowingly using medicines that are harmful to hearing.

Global scenario

Many countries, especially the developed ones, have UNHS mandatory. Even in India, a lot of hospitals have started doing this test, Cochlear itself has been doing this test for the past 12 years, and Cochlear’s main aim is to make the UNHS test universal in India, as well.

Kerala was the first State in the country to provide hearing screening for children in the 66 Government maternity centres. The Kerala Social Security Mission developed a software to keep a record of real-time data of the new-born screened and share with other institutions such as District Early Intervention Centers (DEICs) and medical colleges to help regular follow ups and to be able to provide advanced services.

Gone are the days when children born with hearing impairment were considered to be the victim of their destiny. Cochlear has come up with innovative technology to not only screen and detect hearing impairment at an early stage but also provide implantable hearing solutions that serve a lifetime of hearing outcomes.

“With current technological advancements, it hardly takes five minutes to get UNHS test done. The sooner a child is screened for hearing impairment, the sooner viable treatment becomes possible, if required to be done. Parents may not be able to identify hearing loss in their child either when the child is born or is very young, which is why hearing screening tests become crucial. It enables early intervention so that the child doesn’t face any difficulty when it comes to learning and development,” Agarwal tells you.

Cochlear started doing implants in 2011 and has been doing implantations in about 2,000 children every year. The implants were done on children as young as nine months of age and as old as 84 years.

Campaign

Keeping in mind India’s love for cricket, Cochlear is spearheading awareness about the issue by using a campaign ‘Sounds of Cricket’ the campaign focuses on sounds of the little things in cricket that normal people would take for granted.

“I want to use this platform to draw attention to the growing incidence of profound hearing loss, because I strongly believe that everybody deserves to hear the sounds of life. I am very proud to raise awareness about the critical issue that impacts millions of lives. We should attempt to make UNHS mandatory nationwide,” Lee said.

Cochlear has covered cities like Banglore, Pune, Kochin, Chandigarh, Trivandrum, Guwahati and Amritsar over the last three years and is leaving no stone unturned in an effort to make India a part of the list of countries that have UNHS mandatory for newborns.