23 January 2016 Last updated at 00:19 GMT
But negative attitudes towards disabled people, at least in the corporate world, are slowly beginning to change.
We hear from three employees with disabilities at India's Lemon Tree Hotels.
The group has hired people with speech and hearing impairments, physical disabilities and Down's syndrome in all 27 of its hotels across India.
It has also made sign language compulsory for all its employees.
Filmed/edited by Prem Boominathan, produced by Shilpa Kannan
India has more than 20 million people with physical or learning disabilities and many of them live in poverty because they lack access to education and employment.