Households with disabled members are significantly poorer than average, with lower consumption and fewer assets, according to a World Bank report.

The worst affected are children. Disabled children are four to five times less likely to be in school than children from Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste families. The situation is no better even in better performing states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Out-of-school children account for 27 per cent in Kerala and 34 per cent in Tamil Nadu.
Disabled people have much lower literacy with 52 per cent literacy against a 35 per cent average for the general population, the report said. Based on the National Sample Survey (NSS) 58th round, the World Bank report shows that nearly a third of children with mild disability are out of school, despite the fact that they need no aid or appliance to be able to attend school. Yet, irrespective of the levels of disability - mild, moderate or severe - the disabled rarely progress beyond the primacy school level. The number of disabled people in India is controversial with the official figure at two per cent but social scientists estimate it anywhere between 4-8 per cent. Disabled adults have far lower employment rates than general population despite the fact that several studies have shown that disabled employees have extremely good performance rates. Social attitudes and stigma play major role in limiting the opportunities of disabled people in social and economic life.

In early 2006, a National Policy on Persons with Disabilities was approved by the Centre, but only Chhattisgarh and Karnataka have draft disability policies. The Chhattisgarh draft could provide a model for future policy development, says the report People with Disabilities in India: From Commitments to Outcomes which has been published in the latest issue of The World Bank in India.