Today, Lakshmi zips around town on her motorised tricycle and, yes, offers a lift every time she comes across a disabled person. Even the slender sum of Rs 1,500 a month is enough to make her smile. Exuding the confidence that comes from earning, she has now developed new skills like singing and a bit of dancing.

Lakshmi was lucky to be part of an endeavour to rehabilitate disabled children through integrated education and vocational training. The dual driving forces behind the project were HMT, the largest manufacturer of mechanical watches in the country,and Amar Jyoti, an NGO that works with the differently abled in Delhi and Gwalior.

``We started this project under directions from the Ministry of Welfare to explore new avenues of vocational training for the disabled,'' says Uma Tuli, founder managing secretary, Amar Jyoti. `` Our objective was the empowerment of children with disabilities, in collaboration with the corporate sector,'' she continues.

There were other objectives, too -- such as promoting self-reliance among the disabled rather than providing charity; providing new livelihood options other than the traditional stitching and carpentry; introducing the concept of sustainable training and demonstrating that the disabled can handle intricate processes such as watch repair. The results were amazing.

``We discovered that some of the differently abled mechanics performed better than regular mechanics,'' claims Tuli. ``Since it was their only ticket to self-employment and a place under the sun, they developed superior finger skills during thetraining,'' she says.

When Amar Jyoti first approached HMT, the watch major refused to provide monetary help. Instead, they suggested provision of instructors for watch repairs. Voluntary agency Actionaid and the British High Commission chipped in with financial support for the requisite infrastructure of a room and tools. That was in 1992. Six years hence, six men and three women, two of them with orthopaedic handicaps, have found their vocation in life. The repair fees, which form their earnings, might not be enough to keep them afloat, but still the effort is their own.

For HMT, the venture was a continuation of a long relationship they have nurtured between a leading PSU and NGOs doing good work in the social sphere.``It was also in line with the HMT policy of employing the disabled and made good business sense. The concept was the brainchild of one of our deputy general managers and has matured smoothly except for some operational hiccups,'' says T K Khar, deputy engineer (servicing), who interacteddirectly with the students at Amar Jyoti.

The number of watches repaired reached an all-time high in 1993-94, with 3,071 repairs. In 1997-98, the unit repaired 2,454 watches. ``A major hassle in most NGO-corporate combined efforts is marketing. Many a time, finding work for the professionally trained is a big task. Here, too, in the first year of the programme, we were given only a few watches for repair. But later, noticing the high interest-level among students as the course went on, they opened a full-fledged HMT repair centre,'' says Tuli.

``Now, the company takes care of all the marketing problems by diverting some of the heavy traffic of repair requests to Amar Jyoti. Therefore, there is always ample work,'' says Ashwani, an Amar Jyoti student, who now acts as instructor after undergoing advanced training in HMT's Bangalore unit.

The going hasn't always been smooth as happens in any project. The absorption rate has been low (only four of the nine trained have found employment, one of them in AmarJyoti itself). The lack of any training stipend during the course means thinly spread finances for the trainees for a year. Also, the delicate balance between the commercial and welfare needs of a corporate-NGO has to be maintained.

``Besides, there have been problems with a similar new set-up in Gwalior as HMT does not have its regional headquarters in central India. We have thus been provided the training, but no work,'' explains Tuli.

``Another operational problem involves difficulties in the retention of technical manpower. Many of the trained and semi-trained students have left the course to take up jobs in other companies or set up their own repair units. Self-employment is welcome any day, but joining other companies after benefiting from our specialised training and expertise makes one feel bad,'' says Khar.

Despite these rare complaints, one can only applaud this instance of corporate consciousness overriding the motives of the marketplace.