Deputy Minister Veronica Tan Admits Acceptance Of Disabled And Autism Workers Has Not Been Maximum

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) Veronica Tan admitted that although currently the regulations regarding the acceptance of people with disabilities already exist, the realization in the field is still far from optimal.

The regulation mandates a minimum quota of 2 percent for people with disabilities in government agencies and 1 percent in the private sector.

However, according to Veronica, the implementation of the policy still faces a number of obstacles.

"Until now it has not (all realized). Sometimes companies are confused about finding disabled colleagues because they need those who already have skills. There needs to be training or special education that provides them with certain skills," said Veronica after attending the Indonesian Autisma Foundation event at the Asean Secretariat office, Jakarta, Thursday, May 22.

Veronica also highlighted the special challenges for people with autism in entering the world of work.

According to him, autism requires a different approach and training that is tailored to their condition.

"If autism must be specially approached. We must understand the spectrum of autism in which direction. However, we are sure, if they are given good training, assistance and understanding of emotions, they can definitely be trained and work productively," he said.

Veronica said the government continues to evaluate policy effectiveness and find solutions to optimize its implementation.

For this reason, he continued, the importance of compiling a roadmap is clear so that the goal of inclusiveness and giving justice to people with disabilities is truly achieved.

"So, this is what we are trying (to make) the roadmap what has not been achieved. This is our pilot-pilot so that the best practice is fast. There are observers here, the government already has the provision of the law, just go ahead. We are also doing it with the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos)," said Veronica.

However, Veronica was reluctant to disclose information about the number of disabled and autism workers in government or private institutions.

"So, we said earlier that the state was present and the state wanted to try to see what missing (which was missing), we could try to upgrade again so that the containers for people with disabilities and autism could exist," he concluded.