Flipkart launches first ‘Ekartians with Disabilities’ delivery hub

Walmart-owned Flipkart on Thursday said it has added a new delivery hub in the City to its supply chain network that will be managed end-to-end by 50 employees with disabilities, working in various capacities.




The move is part of Flipkart’s efforts of creating a diverse and inclusive workplace and supply chain.

“Flipkart has added a new delivery hub in New Delhi to its supply chain network, which will be managed end-to-end by 50 employees with disabilities, working in various capacities, including delivery executives, cashiers, and team leaders,” a statement said.

Through this effort, Flipkart aims to break stereotypes around the employability of people with disabilities and create more awareness around the capabilities of the community as they manage the hub and its operations end-to-end, making more than 1,100 deliveries every day, it added.

“This is a decisive step towards building an enabling working ecosystem for people with disabilities and assimilating them into business operations,” it said.

Flipkart had introduced its eDAB programme (Ekartians with Disabilities) in its supply chain in 2017 to provide career opportunities for people with disabilities in its supply chain.

Through the eDAB initiative, Flipkart aims to build awareness around the capabilities of people with disabilities while helping the existing talent work closely with these capable individuals.

Starting as a pilot, through this programme, Flipkart has over 1,019 people with disabilities across its supply chain.

Flipkart said it understands the role of policies and processes that can help in not just hiring people with disabilities but also the importance of nurturing and creating an equitable environment for them for their growth.

In this endeavour, there was an extensive study of the processes, roles, responsibilities, and expectations for employing people with disabilities to ensure seamless operations.

This is supported by sensitisation sessions, special classroom training, and on-job training with the help of sign language interpreters and also to train new entrants and address their concerns, the statement said.

“For communicating with customers, special badges and flashcards were designed for Wishmasters (delivery staff) so that customers become aware of their disabilities. For their safety, emergency (SOS) features are enabled on their smartphones and an emergency number is printed behind the flashcards,” it added.

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Hemant Badri, Senior Vice-President and Head of Supply Chain at Flipkart, said the company is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce.

“As part of our continued efforts towards creating an inclusive workplace and assimilating people with disabilities into business operations, we are introducing our first delivery hub run end-to-end by people with disabilities in the capital of the country. We are hopeful the industry continues to take such efforts in building a more inclusive future, he added.