Articles
AN overview of India’s Policies for Disability
by Neha Kaul Student“Disability need not be an obstacle to success. However,
we have a moral duty to remove the barriers to participation and invest
sufficient funding and expertise to unlock the vast potential of people with
disabilities. Governments throughout the world can no longer overlook the
hundreds of millions of people with disabilities who are denied access to
health, rehabilitation, support, education and employment, and never get the
chance to shine.”
~ Stephen Hawking
This was the foreword to the World Report on Disability
2011 written by Professor Stephen Hawking. It points towards the lack of support
for people with disabilities till now. Taking cognizance of the same, December
3 was marked as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities by the
United Nations in 1992. Therefore, the best law schools in the world are
emphasizing this topic a lot.
About 25 years ago, the United Nations General Assembly
(UNGA) adopted Resolution 47/3 to commemorate this day. According to the United
Nations, the aim behind observing this day is to uphold the well-being and
rights of persons with disabilities across the whole society; to include them
in every step of development; and to increase awareness concerning social,
economic, political, and cultural life of persons with disabilities.
As per the Census 2011, in India, there are 2.68 crores
(2.2%) persons. However, the actual figures may vary. Although there is some
variation between the estimates done by global institutions and India’s
official statistics, it is clear that disabled people constitute a significant
part of our population. Moreover, India has a record of having one of the
highest figures of people with disabilities globally.
In recent years, India has adopted several progressive
measures towards this space, i.e. dealing with persons with disabilities. India
is also a signatory to the Marrakesh Treaty and the UN Convention on Rights of
Persons with Disability. In addition, India also launched the Accessible India
Campaign, whose aim is to achieve universal accessibility for Persons with
Disabilities.
However, policies have been implemented poorly. Many
challenges are acting as deterrents to these policies. Let us discuss a few of
them.
Various
Challenges:
● Social Stigma and Segregation: This is a significant issue impacting people with disabilities in mainstream society.
● Disability definitions across censuses are inconsistent: Different censuses define disabilities differently. This is the reason a person who is included in one census gets excluded in the other one.
● Narrow perspective: India only looks at this matter of disability from a pathological or medical angle. We should look at this issue from a social angle too. Then only we can highlight social arrangements and institutional arrangements that prevent such people from leading fruitful lives.
● Standard reporting lacks: There is self-reporting done by disabled people. This is how census is done. It leaves out many physical and mental disabilities many times.
● Lack of Infrastructural and Institutional Support for the disabled people in India.
● Lack of coordination: There is hardly any coordination amongst inter-ministerial, inter-sectoral bodies, govt. bodies and NGOs.
● Limited capacity and competence: There is no decentralization of services.
Way Forward
India should focus on conducting a proper census with
every person with a disability listed in it. It can take inspiration from
Kerala. It became the first-ever state for conducting its census called the
Kerala Disability Census 2014-15.
We should launch more campaigns to make their lives
easier and provide them support services in a fast track manner.
Conclusion
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About Neha Kaul 
Student
266 connections, 4 recommendations, 762 honor points.Joined APSense since, February 14th, 2018, From New Delhi, India.
Created on Jul 31st 2021 09:28. Viewed 163 times.
