DISABILITY: Being Different or Disadvantaged

1. Who are the disabled people?

• Disabled people are those who have various impairments
• These impairments can be physical, mental, intellectual and sensory.
• They hinder the effective participation of the disabled person (in society) on an equal basis with others.

2. In what way does disability leads to dis-empowerment?

• Any kind of physical disability is a biological deficiency.
• This deficiency leads to social discrimination and exclusion.
• Because of this hostility from society, the environment is also not favorable to them.
• This mismanagement of environment increases the problems of the disabled.
• Gradually, there develops prejudice and it results in inferiority complex among the disabled which impairs their growth. 
• Due to stigma and prejudice the disabled people don't get jobs leading to poverty and deprivation.
• Children and women are more at risk of violence, injury or abuse.

3. What is the magnitude and extent of disability in India?

• There are two major sources of statistics related to disability in India, they are NSSO survey and Census of India
• In 2011, 2.21% of the total population is disabled.
•  Disabled males are more in number than females.
• It is more in rural areas than urban areas.
• Scheduled Classes have highest number of disabled people among all the castes. 
• Various types of disabilities in decreasing order are in movement, hearing and seeing.
• Various disabilities increases with age group (you know why) but the mental retardation is maximum in the age group of 10-19. (Think Why)

4. What are the various laws and government schemes related to disabled people?

• We have moved from a welfare oriented approach to rights based approach towards the disabled people. Thus, we have enacted various acts and policies in that regard. 
• Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992 which deals with the development of manpower for providing rehabilitation services.
• Equal Opportunities Act, 1995 which provides for education, employment, creation of a barrier free environment and social security
• Mental Disabilities Act, 1999 which has provisions for legal guardianship of the four categories and creation of an enabling environment for their independent living.
• Mental Health Act, 1997. This is dealt by the ministry of family and health welfare and the previous three by the ministry of social justice.
• There is a department of disability affairs under the ministry of social justice.
• National policy for persons with disabilities 2006 recognizes that the people with disability are a valuable human resource and seeks to create an environment that provides them equal opportunities, protection of their rights and full participation in the society.
• Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation scheme provides financial assistance to NGOs for providing education, vocational training and rehabilitation of the disabled people.
• National scholarship schemes for students with disabilities under national fund as well as trust fund which provides financial assistance to pursue post matriculation, professional and technical courses
• Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship scheme to enable students with disabilities to pursue M.Phil and Ph.D courses. 
• 3% of vacancies in case of direct recruitment are reserved for persons with disabilities. Out of which 1% each shall be reserved for blindness, hearing impairment and locomotor disability.

 5. Even after having so many forward looking policies and laws the conditions of disabled people are low. Why?

• The same old story of poor implementation by the authorities and the lack of awareness among the people. 
• Lack of funds, loopholes in the system of selection and identification and services confined to only urban areas are the other limitations. 
• Only 2/29 states have draft disability policies.
• Only 30% of the disabled people are employed. In spite of reservations the share of disabled people in employment is 0.5%. Majority of the disabled people are either self employed or casual workers.