About Us

DEOC, established in 2007, provides Consulting, Research and Training services to corporates, educational institutions, industry bodies, development organizations and the Government in creating an inclusive environment. We are trusted advisors for ‘equal opportunity’ for many businesses and NGOs in India. DEOC also works on building the knowledge base on disability policy and inclusion.

DEOC team comprises of highly qualified and experienced professionals, comprising of disability policy specialists, technology experts, universal design architects, communication and research scholars. DEOC’s strength is that we invest time and resources in building capacity and knowledge of the team members to ensure that quality of our services is maintained.DEOC puts together the best of team based on the need of the project. DEOC has worked with different sectors like employment, education, health services, architecture, rural and data on disability.DEOC’s professionalism, ability to deliver and to work along with clients to develop appropriate solutions to complex issues have been appreciated by our clients.

DEOC Team

Rama Chari

Photograph of Rama Chari

Rama Krishnamachari has more than two decades of work experience in the field of disability inclusion and equality. She has specialised in the area of disability policy and has undertaken several studies on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its application in various aspects. She has developed the disability inclusion framework for employment in the corporate sector which has been recognised nationally and internationally. She lead the development of HR Manual, called Values Route to Business Success – The why and How of Employing people with Disabilities in 2007, which was published by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). It is a reference book being used by NGOs and Corporate sector. She has developed training modules and conducted several trainings in the area of disability for different stakeholder groups. She is a trusted advisor to many organisations and diversity professionals.

She started her career as an Educator for children with disabilities in the rural community based project of Action for Ability Development & inclusion (AADI) (Formerly, Spastics Society of Northern India (SSNI). She prepared children with disabilities for integrating them into regular schools in the villages of Haryana. She then joined National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), a leading national level advocacy organisation. At NCPEDP, she headed the Legislation, Networking and Communication Units. As part of the core management team of NCPEDP, she played an important role in bringing about several policy changes vis-à-vis disability in the country. In November 2005, she took up a consultancy with Infosys BPO, for setting up their Equal Opportunity Programme. In July 2007, she along with four other professionals set up DEOC.

She is also part of the NCPEDP’s National Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disability, which focuses on advocacy for appropriate policies in the country. She is also a Core Group Member of the Disability Forum of Confederation of Indian Industry – Karnataka Chapter. She served as a Member of the Steering Committee on Labour and Employment of Planning Commission for the XII Five Year Plan.

She brings to the work environment remarkable discipline and accountability that is almost infectious for other team members. She makes sure that every project closes to the satisfaction of the client and to the satisfaction of standards she sets for herself and for DEOC.

She has done Masters in Economics, PG Diploma in Education of Children with Disabilities. Rama was selected for the prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) which is the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange programme in 2002.

 

Sakshi Broota

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Sakshi Broota has been working in the field of disability since 1994. Her expertise lies in the area of policy and research in disability. Her vast experience from working in the rural and urban slums to policy related work, gives her the capacity to look at solutions from a wider perspective. She heads the Research team in DEOC which has undertaken several national and international researchers, including, study on disability data for Population Census, inclusion of disability in Sustaining Development Goals (SDGs), compiling the feedback of the disability sector on the Disability Bill 2014, discriminating laws against people affected by Leprosy and many others.

In her earlier assignment with NCPEDP she has undertaken researches, like the ‘Role of NGOs vis-à-vis the Employment Scenario in India with reference to People with Disabilities’, issues of deaf and hard of hearing people in India.

She has Master’s degree in Disability Studies from University of Leeds, UK; Diploma in Basic Developmental Therapy from Action for Ability Development & Inclusion (AADI) and Psychology Honours from Delhi University.

She began her career as a Developmental Therapist in the rural community based project of Action for Ability Development & Inclusion (AADI) (formerly, Spastics Society of Northern India She then worked in Deepalaya, which is primarily working in the urban slums of Delhi. Her role was to not only provide services to children with disabilities but also to integrate them in various aspects of community life.

She brings to DEOC her sharp analytical skills. She has great questioning skills and eye for details, which helps in our research and consultancy work.

Vijay Krishnamani

Photograph of Vijay Krishnamani
Vijay Krishnamani, who has profound hearing loss in both ears did his B.Com from Delhi University and MCA from GGS Indraprastha University. After working as a software engineer in organizations like Nucleus Software Exports, Virtusa, and Infosys BPO in India, he joined Citibank, Singapore as Manager, Solution Delivery – Core Banking in 2010. At present he is working as Associate Consultant in Tata Consultancy Services, Singapore, where he provides technological solutions to its clients from the Banking industry.

He won India’s National Award for Best Employee with Disability in 2008 as well as the Infosys Excellence Award for Diversity in 2007. He is the Global Coordinator and Working Committee member of “Suniye”, a non-profit for hearing impaired children in New Delhi. He also co-founded Diversity & Equal Opportunity Center and co-authored a book on “The Why & How of employing persons with disability”.

He is a person with almost 100% hearing impairment. He lip reads and communicates wholly orally. He has been involved in disability movement since his college days. He strongly feels that technology is a great enabler for everyone, disabled or not. His desire is to see a world without barriers. He contributes to the DEOC team a very holistic picture of diversity and disability. He brings practical solutions to every situation that arises.

Ankit Rajiv Jindal

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Ankit began his career in 2006 as an executive at Infosys BPO and progressed to supervised a team in HR Operations with 20 sub-processes, supporting 6 national centres. He has been consistently rated as high performer and was promoted as Subject Matter Expert in less than 2 years.

Ankit then decided to pursue his Masters in Business Administration from the prestigious Faculty of Management Studies – University of Delhi. At FMS, he was elected as the President of the HR and OB society where he undertook several initiatives for the growth and development of the students in the campus.

He has also worked with Redwood Associates, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Ltd., Sony India Ltd. for internship and short-term projects.

Ankit is the recipient of the Tata Business Leadership Award organised by the Tata Administration Service (TAS). He also received the Best Employee Award at Infosys BPO, Best Outgoing Student Award at Surana College.

Ankit brings to the table his excellent business, planning and analytical skills complemented by his enthusiasm and diversified experience.

Ankit is a person with low vision and uses screen reader to access computer. He has been involved in disability work for many years. He worked actively to promote inclusivity in Infosys BPO with the Equal Opportunity team there. He is also an active participant in activities related to advocacy and macro issues vis-à-vis disability.

Ruchira Sarin

Photograph of Ruchira Sarin
Ruchira is an Architect with 17+ years of experience in design and softwares. A Gold-medalist from Malviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, Ruchira has been associated with more than 5 renowned Architectural and IT organisations in India. She has been associated with diverse consultancy projects ranging from residential, cultural, institutional, hospitality and commercial for Indian as well as overseas clients. She is a member of Council of Architecture, India. She specializes in Universal design and leads the accessibility initiative at DEOC, a social enterprise. In this capacity, she has been associated with several prestigious organizations advising them on barrier-free built environment. She is a regular visiting faculty at Sushant School of Design, Gurgaon and has delivered lectures on Universal Design in several other institutions. As part of DEOC team she has been involved in an extensive study of National Building Code and other accessibility standards, to advise government bodies. Apart from this Ruchira is the Principal Architect and Founder of two design organizations – Ode-2-Design and Ode-2-Greens.

Priya Varadan

Photograph of Priya Varadan
Priya Varadan has 20 years of experience in the development sector, in the various aspects ranging from the area of health, environment, children and women rights. She has worked majorly on disability issues.

She has worked in the disability sector as writer, researcher and documentation professional. Some of the major assignments done by her are for Jawaharlal Nehru University, Concern Action India, The Leprosy Mission India, The Score Foundation, National Centre for Promotion of Employment of Disabled India (NCPEDP), Handicap International, Butterflies, The National Trust, and many more. As member (Communication Expert) ‘Expert Committee on Autism Spectrum Disorder’, she has supported National Trust (under Ministry of social Justice, Government of India) in developing an online repository on Autism Spectrum Disorder. She has been engaged with DEOC since inception and has undertaken several research and publication work for various national and international clients.

Priya holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration and PG Diploma in Planning and Project Management. She has contributed as an author to many publications. She has cerebral palsy.