Care finds strength in differently-abled hands

VADODARA: This Vadodara-based business group has much more to it than being a leading manufacturer of ophthalmic products. The Rs 60-crore Care Group has the rare distinction of employing the largest number of differently-abled people in Gujarat.

What’s more, the group plans to recruit about 500 more people — half of them differently-abled — over the next 18 months. The promoters are in talks with non-government organisations for this. At present, the group has a total headcount of 800, including 170 physically challenged workers and administrative staff.

Care Group, which has four companies, exports to 20 countries and is a leading manufacture of intra ocular lenses (IOLs) in the world. It has a capacity to produce over 10 lakh IOLs per year. However, the management says that the decision to employ differently-abled people was not taken only due to compassion.

“We employ, probably, the largest number of physically challenged people in Gujarat. They work with greater concentration, which is difficult to find in the so-called ‘normal’ workers. They really are differently-abled people,” says Lal Dave, CEO of Care Group.

Employees in three facilities at Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Dabhasa are mainly engaged in manufacturing and quality control of lenses and other ophthalmic products. The company claims it pays more than the minimum wages recommended by the government.

It also gives insurance cover to all workers on company assignments. The employees are also trained to use computer and communicate in English to become more confident.

“We hardly recruit any top management person directly from outside. Everyone has to climb up the ladder. We also prefer to nurture talent inside the company,” says Care Group md Niyaz Ahemad, who started his career with the company as a technician on floor.