Mumbai, April 29 (KNN) Retailers Association of India (RAI) and Trust for Retailers & Retail Associates of India (TRRAIN) have come together to help make retail a more inclusive industry through implementation of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies with retailers registered with RAI.

They will also collaborate on the identification and mapping of job roles at different levels within the industry, appropriate to the type of disability, as per the agreement signed on Thursday.

Further they will encourage retail members to offer a greater number of placement and job opportunities for TRRAIN certified Persons with Disability (PwD) candidates at entry and other level jobs over the next 5 years.

Speaking about the collaboration and its objective, BS Nagesh, Founder, TRRAIN said, “Diversity and Inclusion have become important conversations today.

Since 80 per cent of retail jobs are customer-facing, employing PwDs will lead to creating awareness and sensitization at a large level. And, since retail has low entry barriers with minimum qualification being 10th Grade, there is a huge talent pool to explore and impact,” Nagesh added.

Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI said, “Thanks to TRRAIN, many RAI member retailers have already embarked on a path of hiring persons with disabilities (PwDs). Considering the recent state of retail, it’s time to shift gears and take the industry’s Diversity and Inclusivity Quotient to the next level. It will not only give PwDs a good chance at employment in retail and thereby support themselves and their families but also contribute towards the progress of retail as an industry.”

The pact was signed during the Retail Leadership Summit 2022 (April 27-28) which is RAI’s flagship event. (KNN Bureau)