What is Inkin?

Inkin (inkin.store) is an online marketplace that sells products made by PwDs in verified NGO programmes focused on intellectual & developmental disabilities across India. The goal is to solve a specific problem: adults with disabilities finish years of skills training but have no trusted way to sell what they have made, leaving them dependent on their families and with no income of their own.

Inkin changes this by:

• Buying products directly from partner NGOs at fair prices, paying producers upfront
• Carrying inventory itself, so NGOs take no financial risk
• Selling to individual shoppers and corporate buyers across India
• Paying producers for their work, giving them income, choice, and recognition as skilled makers

How it works

For Producers & Partner NGOs

Partner NGOs apply through awarenessforinclusion.com and pass a structured onboarding check covering disability documentation, product quality, and ethical production standards. Once approved, each NGO receives a dedicated dashboard to list stock, manage orders, and receive real-time payment reports. Producers are trained in the skills that make products market-ready: quality standards, finishing, packaging, and customer communication. Payment is direct and upfront—there is no waiting or dependence on retail sales cycles.

For Buyers

Shoppers order through inkin.store from eight product categories: handcrafted goods, organic textiles, artisan foods, sensory products, accessories, upcycled goods, bespoke orders, and seasonal items. Corporate buyers place bulk gifting orders and co-branded campaigns, providing producers with steady demand volumes that individual retail alone cannot sustain.

The model: Why it works

• For producers: Income is their own. They earn from work they are skilled enough to produce, which builds independence and standing in their community—not charity, but contribution.
• For NGOs: A new income line without inventory risk. Partner organisations reach national markets they could never reach alone.
• For buyers: Verified ethical products. Every item is made by persons with disabilities in registered NGO programmes and meets environmental and quality standards.
• For Inkin: A self-sustaining social enterprise model. Inkin buys products upfront and resells with a margin of approximately 30%, which covers platform operations.

Statistics

Impact to date

• Operational since: 2025 (development and onboarding began 2022)
• Geographic reach: Pan-India across 5 states
• Delhi NCR & Gurugram (Haryana); Jaipur (Rajasthan); Kolkata (West Bengal); Kohima (Nagaland); Haldwani (Uttarakhand)
• Partner NGOs: 5 verified organisations
• Khushboo (Gurugram) — operational since 1995, 99 producers
• Approach Autism (Jaipur) — structured IDD programmes since 2011, 88 producers
• Able Fable (Kolkata) — adult livelihood programme, 26 producers
• Tabitha Enabling Society (Kohima) — 69 beneficiaries
• Rosni Society (Haldwani) — registry of 1,715 persons with disabilities
• Producer pool: 282 persons with disabilities with active livelihoods
• Disability categories: Autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, ADHD, cerebral palsy, multiple disabilities, hearing/speech/locomotor disabilities

How to engage

• As a producer or NGO: Apply at inforthecause.org (using Login link) or directly go to awarenessforinclusion.com and Register with disability documentation and product samples
• As a buyer: Browse and order at inkin.store
• As a corporate: Contact via inforthecause.org or inkin.store for bulk gifting, procurement, or co-branded campaigns

What we do

Rather than classroom lectures on “disabilities,” we create moments of direct engagement—immersive experiential workshops, stories that shift perspective, physical practices that reveal embodied difference. The goal is to break bias, build advocates, and create employment and economic opportunity for persons with disabilities.

All programs centre persons with disabilities as creators, teachers, and leaders—not subjects.

2.A. Canvas of Expression: Artistic workshops & creative collaboration

What it is

Canvas of Expression brings employees and corporate teams into creative workshops led by artists with disabilities. Participants work alongside people with disabilities artists to create something together—painting, collage, craft, textile work, mixed media.

The process

Corporate teams are paired with the artists from partner NGOs; teams work on a joint creative project with no prior art experience required. The process—not the product—is the point. Sessions conclude with reflection: What stereotypes did you hold? What surprised you?

What participants experience

• Immediate friendships form across disability and non-disability divides.
• Creative work becomes a medium to break down barriers and unconscious bias.
• Participants experience disabled artists as skilled, creative, and economically valuable.
• Sense of pride and shared accomplishment.

2.B. Twilight's Children: Storytelling to shift perspectives

What it is

Twilight's Children is a crowdsourced collection of stories across India, centered on intellectual and developmental disabilities. Stories are told by persons with disabilities, parents, educators, and allies—each offering perspective on lived experience, choice, family dynamics, work, and belonging.

How we use stories

IFTC organizes storytelling sessions with corporate teams, schools, and communities. Persons with disability storytellers share authentic 15–20 minute narratives (prepared but unscripted, real voices). Audience listens without analysis or “inspiration” framing. Reflection follows: What assumptions did you hold? What surprised you?

The impact

• Personal connection: Stories activate perspective in ways data cannot.
• Employees often share their own stories in return.
• Lasting shift: participants leave seeing persons with disabilities as whole people with agency, not objects of pity.
• Advocates created: people who hear stories become champions for inclusion in their own spheres.

Partnerships & reach

• Sheroes Virtual Community: 35,000+ members in “Moms Know-No Limits”—a safe space for mothers of children with disabilities.
• Schools: Storytelling sessions at Shriram Schools and other institutions.
• Published Stories: Compiled in accessible formats (video, audio, written, illustrated) for ongoing sharing.

What it is

For over a decade, In For The Cause has worked alongside persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities and a national network of partner organizations. Our Advisory Programs extend that lived experience to corporates and to private and public institutions that wish to move inclusion from intention to everyday practice. This is not a compliance exercise conducted from a distance; it is a dignity-centred advisory practice that examines whether an organization's spaces, systems, and policies genuinely welcome the people they are meant to serve. The offering covers:

• Accessibility audits across physical, digital, and psychological spaces — from the built environment and online platforms to the attitudes and psychological safety that determine whether a person feels able to participate
• Diversity and inclusion policy formulation grounded in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• Program audits that test whether existing inclusion, CSR, or accessibility initiatives are delivering real outcomes rather than symbolic ones

How it works

Every engagement is scoped to the organization rather than delivered from a template, and each stage is reviewed through the lens of people with lived experience of disability. We begin by understanding your context, assess against recognized standards, and translate findings into recommendations your teams can act upon. A typical engagement moves through:

• Discovery and scoping conversations with leadership, staff, and, where relevant, the communities you serve
• On-site and digital assessment measured against established accessibility standards and reviewed by evaluators with lived experience
• A clear report with prioritized, practical recommendations
• Drafting or refinement of inclusion policies and redesign of programs where gaps are found
• Optional sensitization workshops and periodic review cycles to sustain progress

Impact delivered

Organizations that work with us gain more than a report; they gain a credible, defensible path to inclusion that holds up in practice. Our guidance helps them meet their legal obligations while building environments where persons with disabilities can contribute and remain. Clients can expect:

• Readiness against the obligations of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 — including equal-opportunity and accessibility duties for private employers, and the four percent reservation applicable to government establishments
• Physical spaces and digital platforms that are genuinely usable, not merely marked as accessible
• Policies and programs that withstand scrutiny and translate into lived outcomes
• A workforce culture better prepared to welcome, include, and retain people of all abilities

About the Award

The Santosh Jeevani National Award honours outstanding contributions to disability rights, inclusion, and livelihoods across India. Named in memory of Santosh Gautam, the award reflects In For The Cause's commitment to recognizing organisations, educators, caregivers, and persons with disabilities who advance inclusion in their communities. The award is presented at Parivaar's National Parents' Meet each year.

Who is eligible

The award covers four categories consistent with the award's stated scope (contributions to the lives of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities):

1. Organisations/NGOs working in the IDD sector;
2. Educators and caregivers who have advanced inclusion;
3. Self-advocates and persons with disabilities themselves;
4. Allied professionals or community navigators.

How does this help the overall goal

The award advances IFTC's overall goal in two ways:

1. It surfaces and documents replicable models of good practice from across the IDD sector;
2. It gives self-advocates and grassroots workers national visibility they would not otherwise receive.