Where are India's disabled leaders? A C-suite reckoning long overdue

Time of India

19-05-2025

If somebody writes an epitaph to Sangita, it should be headlined 'Happy Soul'. Nothing fazes her. No challenge is too big. A fan of James Bond's 'never say die' spirit, just like him she thrives on adrenalin rush as she fields every curveball life throws her way. Sangita is a person with multiple disabilities. A patient of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), Sangita is a wheelchair user and hearing aids user. For the past 10 years, she has been whizzing past life in a wheelchair, notching professional milestones. She believes nothing is insurmountable, certainly not limitations imposed by disabilities. Sangita has three decades of experience in the media, content and communications industry across verticals and industries. She has been associated with the development and disability sector and featured in the first Directory of Development Journalists in India published by the PII. She has also functioned as a media representative of the Rehabilitation Council of India and has conducted various S&A programmes for bureaucrats. Sangita is the founder of Ashtavakra Accessibility Solutions Private Limited, a social enterprise dedicated to the inclusion of the disabled. LESS ... MORE
Introduction
For all the talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion in India Inc., one group remains almost entirely absent from the corridors of power: persons with disabilities. While companies boast of gender ratios and ESG commitments, the question of disability—especially at leadership levels—is barely whispered. This silence is not just an oversight. It is a glaring indicator of how inclusion efforts have sidelined over 26 million citizens. This two-part article examines why, despite visible activism, legal mandates, and global initiatives like the Valuable 500, disabled professionals remain on the margins of corporate leadership—and what must be done to change that.
In over 25 years across five different organizations, countless corporate visits, and high-profile conferences, I have seldom encountered another person with a disability (PwD) at my side. Where are the PwD leaders of corporate India?
A closer look at Forbes and other startup rankings over the past five years reveals a stark underrepresentation of disabled professionals. While exceptional individuals like Srikanth Bolla (Bollant Industries), Hunny Bhagchandani (Torchit), Alina Alam (MITTI Café), and Devika Malik (Wheeling Happiness) have featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 and social entrepreneurship circles, they remain outliers—not proof of systemic inclusion. Of these, Hunny and Alina do not identify as people with disabilities, although they have done tremendous work for the inclusion of the disabled.
Why are disabled professionals so rarely seen in C-suites, leadership summits, or business awards? Why, even after graduating from premier institutions like IITs and IIMs, do they struggle for placements and recognition? Despite India's vibrant corporate landscape and participation in global initiatives, the disabled workforce remains invisible in lists like Best CEOs, promising founders, or startup success stories.
Globally, fewer than 1% of senior executives identify as disabled (Disability Equality Index, 2023), and in India, the number is even lower. Is this scarcity a reflection of capability—or of systemic exclusion? Are there truly no qualified PwD leaders, or are our systems simply not built to see them?
These are the urgent questions we must ask if we are to measure the real impact of initiatives like the Valuable 500. Because without intentional disruption, the silence around disabled leadership will persist—normalized by its invisibility.
Why we need more initiatives like the valuable 500
Despite comprising nearly 15% of the world's population, people with disabilities (PwDs) occupy less than 1% of senior corporate roles globally—a stark disparity that reflects decades of systemic exclusion. In 2019, recognizing this urgent gap, Caroline Casey launched the Valuable 500 at the World Economic Forum in Davos. This global initiative set out with a bold goal: to get 500 of the world's most influential CEOs to commit to placing disability inclusion on their business leadership agendas.
Before the launch of the Valuable 500, disability inclusion was largely invisible in corporate diversity narratives. While conversations around gender, race, and LGBTQ+ rights gained prominence, disability remained an afterthought. Valuable 500 broke through that silence by demanding that inclusion extend to all identities—not just the visible or the socially prioritized.
The core aim was to move companies away from charity-based approaches to a rights-based, systemic strategy—where access, leadership, and opportunity for PwDs were seen as integral to business performance and innovation.
Since then, companies like Microsoft, Accenture, SAP, EY, and Unilever—leaders among the Valuable 500—have introduced targeted hiring initiatives and begun to disclose disability representation data. For instance, Microsoft reports that 5.7% of its global workforce self-identifies as disabled, and has launched Autism Hiring and Supported Employment programs. EY's disability self-identification rates in the U.S. increased from 2.3% in 2020 to 3.9% in 2022, while Unilever has publicly committed to ensuring 5% of its workforce comprises persons with disabilities by 2025. SAP, through its Autism at Work program, has hired hundreds of neurodiverse individuals, and Accenture has embedded disability advocacy into leadership goals across its global offices.
These numbers show progress—but also reveal the limitations. Most companies still report less than 1% disability representation in senior roles, and only a handful of top executives or board members publicly identify as disabled. Even at Microsoft and EY—among the more transparent firms—C-suite disclosure remains the exception, not the norm.
This is why we need not just one—but many more initiatives like the Valuable 500.
We need frameworks that are not just global, but tailored to local realities. We need Indian industry chambers, investor groups, and leadership academies to recognize that disability inclusion is not a CSR line item—it's a measure of integrity, innovation, and equity.
Because true leadership is not about who climbs fastest. It's about who makes sure others can climb too.
Evaluating global progress
Since its inception, companies like Microsoft, Accenture, and SAP, part of the Valuable 500, have implemented inclusive recruitment strategies, developed accessible technologies, and created accountability frameworks for leaders. These actions have significantly enhanced the visibility and hiring of PwDs within their organizations.
However, representation at the C-suite level remains extremely limited. According to the Disability Equality Index (2023), fewer than 1% of senior executives globally openly identify as disabled, underscoring the deep-rooted exclusion that persists.
Indian scenario and challenges
India, despite being home to over 26 million PwDs (Census of India, 2011), continues to face systemic and cultural challenges in mainstreaming disability inclusion within corporate structures. While companies like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Mahindra have signed the Valuable 500 pledge and initiated hiring programs for PwDs, most placements are confined to junior or entry-level roles. According to a 2022 report by the Disability Rights India Foundation, fewer than 0.5% of corporate leaders in India openly identify as disabled—indicating a glaring exclusion from decision-making echelons.
One of the fundamental causes behind this leadership vacuum is the lack of inclusive and accessible education. As per the Ministry of Education (2022), only 5% of PwDs in India are able to access higher education. Many government and private educational institutions still lack basic physical and digital accessibility, and inclusive pedagogy remains sporadic. Moreover, mainstream skilling programs under the Skill India initiative report minimal enrolment of PwDs due to a lack of targeted outreach, accessible curriculum, and poor industry linkage.
Even those who make it to elite institutions face significant hiring discrimination. Internal reports and student feedback from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) suggest that PwD graduates routinely receive fewer interview calls, face biased perceptions about productivity, and experience marginalisation during placements—despite having competitive academic records. Companies often avoid disclosing data on how many PwDs they hire, let alone how many progress through the ranks. Only a handful of Indian corporates include disability in their ESG or DEI reports, with even fewer offering disaggregated data on hiring or promotions of PwD employees.
Furthermore, there is no national benchmarking equivalent to the Disability Equality Index in India. In the absence of a credible accountability mechanism, disability inclusion becomes more rhetoric than practice. Many corporates continue to treat accessibility as a compliance burden rather than a leadership imperative.
The opportunity is immense
India's expanding knowledge economy and growing digital workforce offer potential for inclusive hiring—if designed intentionally. But to unlock that potential, there must be urgent reforms in corporate reporting standards, inclusive recruitment, and workplace culture that welcomes and retains disabled professionals beyond tokenism.
(Continued in Part II)
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Views expressed above are the author's own.