A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories. International Research Journal of Human Resources and Social Sciences (IRJHRSS) 1 | Page International Research Journal of Human Resources and Social Sciences Impact Factor- 3.866 Vol. 3, Issue 10, October 2016 ISSN(O): (2349-4085) ISSN(P): (2394-4218) © Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF) Website: www.aarf.asia Email : editor@aarf.asia , editoraarf@gmail.com OPPORTUNITIES AND ISSUES IN EMPOWERING DIFFERENTLY- ABLED PEOPLE INTO PRODUCTIVITY: A STUDY BASED ON AMPARA DISTRICT, SRI LANKA Mohamed Shareef Ishar Ali Department of Management Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education Hardy Advanced Technological Institute Abstract Disability is a normal phenomenon in the sense that it exists in all societies, affecting predictable and identifiable proportions of each population. Disability activities are economic activities, which generate economic output and income just like other economic activities. Nevertheless, expenditures on disability are typically viewed as constituting an economic burden. This likely stems from the fact that most expenditures on disability have traditionally come either from government budgets, making them burdensome to taxpayers. Incorporating disabled people into the labor force in a productive manner is a challenging but important step. Empowerment is all about giving official authority to an individual to do something by making someone stronger and more confident. This research has attempted to study the available opportunities to empower disables and to identify the issues which are significant threat to empowering disables which in turn increase the cost of families with disabled persons and government expenditure to protect these disabled persons. Keywords; Disability, Economic activities, Empowerment Issues, Labor force Introduction Disabled people are often found among “the poorest of the poor” and in a developing country like Sri Lanka, they face discrimination in every level of the society. Historically, disable people were excluded from mainstream society and development. Poverty is both a cause and consequence of disability and a majority of disabled people find their impairment affects their