JOIN USCensus 2011 has thrown up some worrying figures regarding India’s physically challenged population. The number of people with disabilities in the country has surged from 2.19 crore in 2001 to 2.68 crore in 2011 – an 18 per cent increase. While this increase may be partly because the mentally challenged have been included in the count in 2011, still, such a sharp rise is worrying, especially when early diagnosis and treatment of disabilities have improved remarkably over the decade. Malnutrition among expectant mothers and infants is said to be an important reason for disabilities. Is this behind the rise in numbers? Most of our physically and mentally challenged population has movement disabilities (20.3 per cent) followed by the hearing impaired (18.9 per cent) and visually impaired (18.8 per cent). Those with multiple disabilities figure fourth in this list. In previous decades, polio was the cause of most movement disabilities. With the eradication of polio, road accidents have emerged as the main cause. Seventy per cent of the disabled live in rural areas. This is worrying as facilities for treatment, rehabilitation and employment opportunities there are abysmal.
Persons with disabilities do not want pity or charity. They want a supportive environment that enables and empowers them to be productive citizens. And in this, India has failed them. Public transport, buildings and toilets are not disabled-friendly. They are denied entry into schools, colleges and jobs, as the general public tends to view them as handicapped and a liability, rather than as people with a variety of talents and skills, who can be an asset if appropriately enabled. While special schools for children with disabilities do play a role in their rehabilitation, their ghettoisation must end. They must be empowered to join inclusive and integrated schools and workplaces. Such inclusion is necessary at all levels: from the crafting of policies to management and implementation of plans and programmes. Piecemeal inclusion is no inclusion at all.
It is in this context that The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014, is important. Unlike the 1995 legislation which covers seven disabilities, the 2014 Bill includes 19 conditions. It provides for reservations in education and employment, and preference in government schemes. Disabled-friendly public transport, buildings, voting booths, etc will become a right. It is unfortunate that a legislation that can make a positive change in the lives of those with challenges has been languishing in cold storage since February last year when it was introduced in the Rajya Sabha. Parliament must pass this enabling legislation during the
upcoming monsoon session.