Poverty and disability in India

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between poverty and disability in India and it argues that disabled people are not only among the poorest of the poor in the country, but that they remain poor for very long periods of time, from generation to generation. Articles were scrutinized to find out what sources were used in these publications to conclude that there was evidence for a strong relationship between disability and poverty. This study deals firstly, summarize the current state of knowledge about disability and poverty. Secondly, discusses the relationship between disability and poverty. And thirdly it explains the reason behind the lack of reliable information on disability and its impact. And finally it describes the efforts that are presently being made to shaping the policies to end the miseries of disabled people. Evidence from the study confirms that disability as a cause and consequence of poverty now needs to be brought to centre stage and the development community needs to reorder its priorities to put disability in the mainstream. No poverty programme can be effective if it ignores its poorest minority and no disability programme will be successful if it ignores the conditions faced by most disabled people.

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Social Change
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DOI: 10.1177/004908570903900102
2009 39: 29Social Change
Ambati Nageswara Rao
Poverty and disability in India
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29-45
Social Change
:
March 2009
:
Vol.
39
No.
1
Poverty
and disability in India
Ambati
Nageswara Rao*
This study explores the relationship between poverty and disability in India
and it argues that disabled people are not only among the poorest of the
poor in the country, but that they remain poor for very long periods of
time, from generation to generation. Articles were scrutinized to find out
what sources were used in these publications
to
conclude that there was
evidence for a strong relationship between disability and poverty. This
study deals firstly, summarize the current state of knowledge about
disability and poverty. Secondly, discusses the relationship between
disability and poverty. And thirdly it explains the reason behind the lack
of reliable information on disability and its impact. And finally it describes
the efforts that are presently being made to shaping the policies to end
the miseries of disabled people. Evidence from the study confirms that
disability as a cause and consequence of poverty now needs to be brought
to centre stage and the development community needs to reorder its
priorities to put disability in the mainstream.
No
poverty programme can
be effective
if
it ignores its poorest minority and no disability programme
will be successful
if
it ignores the conditions faced by most disabled people.
INTRODUCTION
Poverty has been described as a situation of “pronounced deprivation in
well being” and being poor as “to be hungry, to lack shelter and clothing,
to be sick and not cared for, to be illiterate and not schooled.. .Poor people
are particularly vulnerable to adverse events outside their control. They
are often treated badly by institutions
of
the state and society and excluded
from voice and power in those institutions.” Using income as a measure
of poverty, the World Development Report refers to the “deep poverty
amid plenty” in the world and states that a fifth of the world’s people live
on less than
$
1
a day, and 44 per cent of them are in South Asia.
*
Tata Institute
of
Social Sciences, Post
Box
8313, Deonar, Mumbai-400088.
<nageshcu@gmail.com>
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Poverty and disability are closely linked and have a detrimental impact
on the level of inclusion in society and its overall development. From the
social perspective, both poverty and disability are products of capitalist
development in a given society. Hence, this suggests society as the focal
point of action to deal with both poverty and disability having created
them in the first place. This is mainly through restructuring societal policies
and provisions including those
of
the economy.
According to the United Nations, one person in
20
has a disability.
More than three out of four of these live in a developing country.
Recent World Bank estimates suggest they may account for as many
as one in five of the world’s poorest (Elwan, A.
1990).
Disability limits
access to education and employment, and leads to economic and social
exclusion (DFID,
2000).
Poor people with disabilities are caught in a
vicious cycle of poverty and disability, each being both
a
cause and
consequences of the other. Therefore,
it
is argued that poverty
alleviation is a key solution in preventing directly and indirectly.
Breaking the chain
of
economic dependency
of
the poor requires the
eradicator of poverty to help overcome the problems
of
social and
economic deprivation. In this sense, poverty eradication can be
regarded as a prerequisite to development.
Various measures can be considered as instrumental strategies in
fighting widespread poverty amongst disabled people. This primarily
includes different kinds of remunerated employment schemes as well
as policies, legislation and welfare provisions. Together, these may
facilitate the creation of inclusive society, which allows disabled
people develop their economic potential and ultimately strengthen their
independent life.
OBJECTIVES
The purpose of the study is to gain deeper understanding of the relationship
between poverty and disability.
1)
Summarize the current state of knowledge about disability and poverty.
2)
Secondly, discusses the relationship between disability and poverty.
3)
Thirdly it explains the reason behind the lack of reliable information
on disability and its impact.
4)
Finally it describes the policy interventions aimed at greater inclusion
of
disabled people in the country’s development process.
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METHODOLOGY
Definitions of poverty and disability were searched on the Internet and in
books and various publications. Google Scholar was used to trace articles
and books, and some articles. Several terms (poverty, disability, handicap,
impairment, discrimination, exclusion, etc.) were used to search for articles
on the link or definition. Articles used were first scrutinized on sources
referring to a possible link between disability and poverty and sources
that were seen as reliable.
DEFINITIONS
Before making any comparisons on existing data on incidence of poverty
and disability, it is important to define what is understood by poverty and
disability. There are many different definitions used in research studies
that focus on disability and poverty.
Defining Poverty
In order to define poverty it is important to realize that poverty has a
multidimensional nature, and to first consider which factors indicate
poverty. In the different definitions that exist, many different factors are
being mentioned, which makes it hard to indicate one specific definition
as being the best or most accurate one. Mention is also made
of
two sorts
of
poverty, namely absolute poverty and relative poverty.
Absolute Poverty
If poverty is defined in absolute terms, needs are considered to be fixed at
a level which provides for subsistence, basic household equipment, and
expenditure on essential services such
as
water, sanitation, health,
education and transport.(Wratten, 1995) The absolute definition is in
common use by the World Bank and governments. However, it does not
describe the extent of income inequality within society nor the fact that
needs are socially determined and change over time. The absolute
definition has to be adjusted periodically to take account of technological
developments such as improved methods of sanitation.
Relative Poverty
The concept of relative poverty is more flexible, and allows for minimum
needs to be revised as standards of living in society alter. It reflects the
view that poverty imposes withdrawal
or
exclusion from active membership
of society: people are relatively deprived if they cannot obtain
"
...
the
conditions of life
-
that is the diets, amenities, standards and services
-
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which allow them to play the roles, participate in the relationships and
follow the customary behaviour which
is
expected of them by virtue of
their membership of society.
The United Nations describes poverty as: “the denial
of
opportunities and
choices most basic to human development
-
to lead a long, healthy, creative
life and to enjoy a decent standard of living, freedom, dignity, self-esteem
and the respect of others”. (United Nations Development Programme,
Human Development Report
1997)
The CPRC states in its report on Chronic Poverty, that there is no objective
way
of
defining poverty. Many countries have defined their own poverty
lines, which would represent the level of income or consumption necessary
to meet the minimum requirements, such as clothing, housing and health
care. Most countries use the minimum amount of nutritional intake needed
in order to measure poverty, but different nutritional norms are used. When
every country adopts its own poverty line, it becomes impossible to make
cross-country comparisons with regard to poverty, and someone defined
as poor in one country, might not be poor according to standards used in
other countries.
INCIDENCE OF POVERTY IN INDIA
The Planning Commission estimates the incidence of poverty in India on
the basis of household consumer expenditure surveys conducted by the
National Sample Survey Organization. The table below shows that the
incidence of poverty expressed as a percentage of people below the poverty
line declined continuously from
51.3
per cent to supposedly
19
per cent.
TABLE1
Poverty
in
India
After the 1970s
Year Poverty Ratio Percentage
Rural Urban Combined
1977-78 53.1 45.2 51.3
1983 45.7 40.8 44.5
1987-88 39.1 38.2 38.9
1993-94 37.3 32.4 36.0
1999-00 27.1 23.6 26.1
2007 21.1 15.1 19.3
Source:
Tenth
Five
Year
Plan
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However, the pace of reduction in poverty varied considerably during this
period with a large decline in the percentage of the population in poverty
throughout the
1980s,
a slowdown in the pace of poverty reduction in the
early
1990s,
and a reported but contested sharp
10
per cent decline in
poverty in the second half
of
the
1990s.
The decline in poverty after
independence and particularly in the
1970s
is
attributed to the various
poverty alleviation programmes started by government in various states
of the country. (Sooden and Kumar’s paper presentation)
The most important of these programmes which have a direct attack on
poverty included the Twenty Point Programme
(1973,
Public Distribution
System had been revamped in
1975
in
1775
blocks in remote and backward
areas to increase the supply of essential consumer items at cheaper rates
for the poor, Food for Work and Antodaya Yojna
(1977-78),
Training Rural
Youth for Self-Employment
(1979),
Jawahar and Nehru Rozgar Yojna
(1989),
Ganga Kalyan Yojna
(1997-98),
Swarn Jyanti Gram Swarozgar
Yojna
(1999),
Pradhan Mantra Gramodaya Yojna
(2000),
Pradhan Mantri
Gram Sadak Yojna
(2000),
National Food for Work Programme
(2004)
and National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(2005).
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was launched in Bandlaplli
village of Anantpur district in Andhra Pradesh on February
2, 2006.
This
step has been viewed as historic and revolutionary in the history of
independent India because the act will create a new rural infrastructure,
improving road connectivity, school buildings and water supply to the
villages. The Act guarantees
100
days of wage employment in a year to
every rural household in
80,000
villages in
200
districts across the country,
CONCEPT
OF
DISABILITY
According to the census of India
2001,
in India people with disability
are
21,906,769
which constitute more than
2
per cent of total population. (http:/
/www.censusindia.gov.in/Census~Data~2001/).
There are several
definitions in use to describe Persons with Disabilities and most of them
reflect an understanding that disability
is
an individual Pathology
-
a
condition grounded in the physiological, biological and intellectual
impairment of an individuA1. According to the Persons with Disabilities
(Equal Opportunities, Protedion of Rights an&Full Participation) Act
1995,
of the Government of India,
B
Person with Disdbility (PWD) is defined as
a person suffering from not les than
40
per cent of any disability as certified
by a medical authority. The conWons of disability included are blindness,
low- vision, hearing impairment, hco motor disability, mental retardation,
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leprosy and mental illness which have been listed as disability in the
National Trust Act of 1999. (Singh,
J.P,
2005).
Disability is a complex phenomenon
to
measure for a number of reasons.
People’s understanding of definitions of disability and the concept of
disability itself vary: It is possible for one person to define themselves as
disabled when another person with an identical condition would not. One
reason for this can be a perception that ‘disabled’ is a stigmatizing label
(Tibble,
M,
2004).
Over the past century, the concept of disability has
evolved significantly. Among the terms most frequently used by
professionals are impairment, disability, and handicap and although there
are differences of opinions over definition and usage, there is a measure
of
consensus over the need to divide or categorize the disabled population
as an aid to inter-disciplinary communication. In 1980 the WHO
commissioned Philip Wood (Oliver,
M.,
1990) to devise a classification
system for disability. The resulting definitions are shown below.
Impairment
Impairment has been defined as an ‘anatomical, pathological or
psychological disorder’ which
is
defined and described symptomatically
or diagnostically. Impairments may affect locomotion, motor activities,
sensory systems, and be medically based or
of
psychological origin.
A
more concise definition is ‘any
loss
of psychological, physiological
or
anatomical structure
or
function’. Impairments may be permanent or
temporary, be present from birth or acquired adventitiously. It is appropriate
to regard the term impairment as a neutral or objective description of the
site, nature and severity
of
loss
of
functional capacity.
Disability
Disability refers to the impact of impairment upon the performance
of
activities commonly accepted as the basic elements of everyday living
-
walking, negotiating stairs, getting in and out of bed, feeding, using the
lavatory, bathing, holding down a job or just being able to carry on a
conversation. Disability can be used when an impairment, objectively
defined, constitutes a hindrance to mobility, domestic routines, or
occupational and communication skills.
Handicap
Handicap is a term which has come to represent the more profound effects
of impairments and disabilities which implicate the whole person and just
selective incapacities. Handicap in children has been seen as an impairment
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or a disability which ‘for a substantial period or permanently, retards,
disturbs or otherwise adversely affects normal growth, development and
adjustment to life’ and in adults ‘constitutes a disadvantage for a given
individual in that it limits or prevents the fulfilment of a role that is normal
(depending on age, sex and social and cultural factors) for that individual’.
Handicap is therefore an evaluator concept in which the interaction of
impairment and disability with an individual’s psychological make-up,
the resources available, and social attitudes affects adversely the
performance of ordinary roles. Handicap is a value-judgment applied by
others to an impaired disabled person on the basis of failure to perform
customary social roles; and of course, this value-judgment the impaired-
disabled person may apply to him or herself, or vigorously reject.
To
move
from impairment to handicap is to cover the distance from symptoms to
social role. It is also to move from objectivity to subjectivity.
Figure
1
Impairment
Disability (objectified as activity restriction)
(intrinsic situations: exteriorized as functional limitations)
I
Handicap (socialized as disadvantage)
Source: Thomas. D (1982).
The presence of impairment does not necessarily imply disability and neither
does disability imply handicap (Thomas, D., 1982). On the other hand it is
possible for impairment to lead to disablement or handicap, for two people
with broadly similar functional limitations may face objectively similar activity
restrictions, but one may retain his conventional social roles(albeit somewhat
modified) while the other, with different resources(personal or community),
may cast himself or be cast as a handicapped person. Some people in
wheelchairs succeed in working and maintaining a high level of independence,
while others require a high degree of nursing care. Disability is, therefore, to
some extent ‘self-defmed’
as
it with handicap
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Over the last 20 years there have been substantial challenges to dominant
perceptions of and attitudes to disabled people. Such challenges, mainly
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articulated by disabled people themselves and the organizations which
they have formed, have focused primarily on questioning the notion of
disability as an individual, tragic occurrence that classes a person as sick
or incapacitated in some way and thus dependent on the good will and
care of others. There are two main approaches to disability. They are:
Medical Model
of
Disability
This model is one of the dominant ways of understanding disability and
the associated attitudes and responses to disabled people. It is most often
referred to as the medical discourse on disability, or in more popular
language the medical model of disability. It has tended to focus attention
on the nature of the person’s impairment and the degree to which this
impairment may or may not prevent the person from carrying out various
tasks or participating in activities in ways regarded as normal (Shakespeare,
T.,
2006).
Such definitions focus on the physiology of the impairment
and the perceived deficits of the individual person rather than on the
bamers in society that prevent him or her from doing these things. They
focus, for example, on the nature of a person’s spinal injury rather than
on
the physical barriers that limit his or her mobility as a wheelchair user, or
on the degree of a person’s deafness rather than on accommodating the
use of sign language
as
the language of communication and instruction
for that person.
Social Model
of
Disability
This kind of approach to disability derives from social and political
understandings of disability, where the focus is on the nature and
organization of society and its response to people with impairments rather
than on the nature and extent of the individual’s impairment. The following
is a definition of disability according to the social model:
Disability refers to the disadvantage or restriction
of
activity caused by
the way society is organized which takes little or
no
account
of
people
who have physical, sensory
or
mental impairments.
As
a result such people
are excluded and prevented from participating fully
on
equai terms in
mainstream society. Disability is thus imposed
on
people with impairments
who, as a result, become disabled not by their impairments, but by society
(Terzi,
L.,
2005).
From the perspective of the social model, disability can therefore be
understood only by focusing on the relationship between persons with
impairments (or perceived impairments) and the society or environment
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of which they are part. One fundamental consequence of applying the
social model of understanding disability is that shifting attention from the
individual and the nature of his or her impairment to the relationship that
exists between that person and the society in which he or she lives makes
it more difficult to categorize people as disabled or non-disabled. The
nature of that relationship and the experience of disability are always
dependent on how that society is structured and functions.
A
social model
perspective forces us to turn our attention away from defining who is or is
not disabled to identifying and addressing
the
barriers which in a given
society restrict disabled people’s participation in ‘normal’ life. In this social
view, people with disabilities are seen as being restricted in performing
daily activities because of a complex set of interrelating factors, some
pertaining to the person and some pertaining to the person’s immediate
environment and social/political arrangements.
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THE PREVALENCE
OF
DISABILITY IN
INDIA
AND THE
LACK
OF
RELIABLE INFORMATION AND ITS IMPACT
Information on disability has been collected in India for long through
sample surveys and censuses. For conducting nationwide large-scale socio-
economic sample surveys on a regular basis, the Government
of
India set
up National Sample Survey (NSS) in 1950. The survey focuses various
socio-economic aspects in different years. The survey period of
NSSO
is
identified as round and it varies from six months to one
year.
As far as
complete enumeration is concerned, the Office of Registrar General of
India conducts Population Censuses at
an
interval of ten years since 188
1.
The Indian Population Census has been providing some useful data on the
physical infirmities from it’s inception. The census questionnaire of 1872
called “House Register” included questions on physically disabled like
the blind, the deaf and the dumb. But owing to constraints in enumeration,
the quality of data collected through the Population Censuses was not
satisfactory and thus the practice was discontinued after
1931.
No attempt
was, therefore, made to collect information on disability through censuses
of 1951, 1961 and 1971. Collection of certain important information on
physically handicapped persons was again taken up in the 1981 census.
Declaration of the year 1981 as the international year for the disabled
persons by the United Nations was also a reason for taking up the aspect
of disability in the 1981 Population Census. The enumeration of disabled
persons was again taken up along with the Population Census of India
conducted in
200
1.
According to the census of India 200
1,
in India people
with disability are 21,906,769 which constitute more than 2 per cent of
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the total population. But according to
NSSO
surveys, in India people with
disabilities are 18,491,000 which constitute less than 2 per cent of the
total population.
TABLE
2
Estimates
of
Disability in India by Census and
NSSO
Census
2001
NSSO
-
2002
Sr.
No. Dpes
of
Disabilities Number
1
Seeing
2 Speech
3 Hearing
4 Movement
5 Mental
6 Total
10,634,881
1,640,868
1,261,722
6,105,477
2,263,821
21,906,769
%
of
Total
Disabled
48.55
7.49
5.76
27.87
10.33
100.00
Number
2,826,700
2,154,500
3,061,700
10,634,000
2,097,500
18,491,000
~~ ~
%
of
Total
Disabled
15.29
11.65
16.56
57.51
11.34
100.00
This conclusion is misleading, because the definitions adopted by two
organizations are different. Secondly, if we
look
at
types
of disabled in India
as estimated by two organizations, according to the Census of India the
proportion
of
seeing disabled in the total disabled population is 48.55 per
cent, where as according to
NSSO,
their proportion is 15 per cent. Similarly
in case of people with movement disabled, census estimates at 27.87 per cent
of total disabled population, whereas
NSSO
estimates them at 57.51 per cent.
Thus according to Census of India disabled with seeing disabilities are leading
in number in India, whereas according to
NSS
disabled with locomotor
disability are leading. Similarly there are differences in estimates in case
of
other disabilities as well.
(http://www.disabilityindia.org/nsso-censussfm)
If we compare these two definitions, the definitions adopted by Census of
India are wide in coverage compared to
NSSO.
Definition adopted by
NSSO
includes persons either with no light perception or blurred vision.
Whereas Census includes, apart from these two categories, people with
proper vision in one eye and also people who may have blurred vision and
had no occasion to test whether his/her eyesight would improve by using
spectacles. Because of vide definition; Census
of
India estimates of people
with seeing/visual disabilities are more as compared to
NSSO
estimates.
In case of disabled with speech disability, Census of India estimated that,
in India there are 1,640,868 (7.49 per cent of total disabled) persons with
such disabilities, whereas
NSSO
estimated them at 2,154,500
(1
1.65 per
cent of total disabled). Here also variation is due to definitional aspects.
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Consequently the needs of disabled people are often poorly served by
development agencies. Disability issues are often viewed as outside the
mainstream of development theory, policy and practice. All too often
governments and NGOs fail to recognize disability for what it really is
-
a central and vitally important issue in global poverty, not a minor irritant
on the margins.
Disability
is
a major cause
of
poverty, social exclusion and inequality
throughout the world, on a par with gender discrimination and the denial
of human rights. Disability as a cause and consequence of poverty now
needs to be brought to centre stage and the development community needs
to reorder its priorities to put disability in the mainstream and need proper
data on disability. till this is achieved, disabled people will continue to be
relegated to the margins
of
society
-
once it is done, agencies will begin
better meeting the needs of millions of impoverished people.
DISABILITY AND POVERTY
The connection between poverty and disability
is
complex and multi-
directional. In
1996,
the United Nations estimated that as many as
300
million people in the world are severely or moderately disabled and,
according to the World Bank, as many as two-thirds
of
those individuals
live in poverty. With such overwhelming numbers
of
disabled individuals
living in poverty, one cannot help but wonder whether one causes the
other.
Figure
2
Disability and Poverty Cycle
Limited education
&
Employment opportunities
Limited
social
support
Low
expectations
from
self
and community
Exclusion from legal process
I
I
Increased
risk
of impairment
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It is relatively simple to make the causal connection between disability
and poverty. Individuals with disabilities are often excluded from the labour
market. Fears of increased costs, inflexibility in considering necessary
accommodations, and outright prejudice, all contribute to an artificially
small job market for people with disabilities. Even when included, people
with disabilities often work fewer hours and in lower-paying or lower-
skilled positions. In some instances, individuals with disabilities are unable
to work in the competitive marketplace. For those who are
so
disabled
that competitive work is impossibile, Social Security Disability Insurance
and Supplemental Security Income are most often relied upon. However,
federal benefits do not provide a living wage, making poverty inevitabile.
The extent to which people with disabilities are segregated also contributes
to their marginalization.
(www.ecomod.org/files/papers/l8
1
.pdf) For
people with disabilities living in the community, the array of options
is
similarly limited. People with physical disabilities may only be able to
access a fraction of the housing that people without disabilities may access.
People with cognitive disabilities are often congregated in group housing,
or supervised apartments, where their only neighbours are others with
similar disabilities.
The trail from poverty to disability may not be as clear as the road from
disability to poverty. However, a critical examination
of
the issue
demonstrates that those living in poverty are exposed to a variety of risk
factors that increase the possibility of impairment and disability. Poverty
almost necessarily leads to insufficient nutrition, sub-standard or crowded
housing, and inadequate physical and mental healthcare. These factors
alone or in combination lead to an increased risk
of
impairment which in
turn may lead to disability. The World Health Organization estimates that
one hundred million people worldwide have impairments which are caused
by malnutrition and poor sanitation. For example, children living in low
income housing disproportionately are exposed to lead paint. The
deleterious health consequences of lead are well known, yet people who
are poor do not have meaningful access to more adequate housing.
Take chronic hunger, for example, individuals who live in poverty are
likely to be food insecure (defined as having limited or nutritionally
inadequate food as a result of lack of money or resources to gain access to
it). Recent medical studies have demonstrated a strong association between
children who are chronically food insecure and physical and mental health
problems. School aged children with severe hunger were more likely to
have low birth weights, chronic health problems, and stressful life events.
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They were also more likely than non-hungry children to have
developmental delays, emotional problems including anxious and
depressive symptoms, and learning disabilities. The authors also postulated
that hunger may have had a negative impact on the children’s psychosocial
functioning, increasing the risk of behavioural problems. This relatively
simple example of inadequate nutrition demonstrates the profound impact
of poverty on child development and the resulting increased risk of
impairment and disability.
The incidence of disability is often seen as a natural phenomenon one
beyond the control of the individual. We don’t often blame individuals
for being born cognitively disabled, or developing a chronic health
condition. However, when one considers the causal connection between
poverty and disability, blame could be attributed if we wanted to do
so.
We could, with considerable evidence, point a finger at ourselves for not
paying living wages, for not providing a truly open and accommodating
labour market, for not providing safe and affordable housing, and for not
providing adequate and affordable health care for all our fellow citizens,
even those with physical or mental disabilities.
As many as
50
per cent of disabilities are preventable, (DFID,
2000)
for
example, the WHO currently estimates that world-wide there
are
1.5
million blind children, mainly in Africa and Asia. In developing countries
up to
70
per cent of blindness in children is either preventable or treatable.
The WHO also estimates that around
50
per cent of disabling hearing
impairment is also preventable. In
1995
this affected a total of
120
million
people world-wide (including seven million children).
A large proportion
of
disability is preventable. Achieving the international
development targets for economic, social and human development will
undoubtedly reduce the levels of disability in many poor countries.
However general improvements in living conditions will not be enough.
Specific steps are still required, not only for prevention, bur also to ensure
that people with disabilities are able to participate fully in the development
process. Disability and poverty reinforce one another, contributing to
increased vulnerability and exclusion. The majority of people with
disabilities find their situations affecting their chances of going to school,
working for a living, enjoying family life, and participating as equals in
social life. It is estimated that only
2
per cent
of
people with disabilities
in developing countries has access to rehabilitation and appropriate basic
services.
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POLICY INTERVENTIONS
The Indian Persons with Disability (Equal Opportunities, Protection
of
Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 was a landmark in that it was the
first major piece of disability legislation based largely on the
UN
Standard
Rules (for the complete Act see
www.disabilityactindia.org).
It provided
disabled people, in the second largest population in the world, with
constitutional recognition. The main provisions of the Act are:
A. Prevention and early detection of impairment,
B.
Integration
of
disabled students in mainstream state education,
C.
Reservation of at least
3
per cent of government and public sector
vacancies for disabled people
-
1 per cent each for persons with visual
impairment, hearing impairment and physical impairment,
D.
Identification of
jobs
which can be held by disabled people,
E.
Job protection for people who have become disabled during service,
F.
Local authorities should, within their economic limits, make
adjustments to the physical environment to take account of the access
needs of disabled people (e.g. install sound signals at traffic lights,
create curb cuts and slopes in pavements, build ramps in public
buildings, install Braille systems in lifts).
The
Act is currently being revised. The amendment committee published
their final report in March 1999 with over
50
amendments. These proposed
amendments are now being considered by a government sub-committee.
However there has been little sign of progress since the final report was
produced. The problems with the Act include:
Disability is defined in this legislation by a list
of
only
7
impairments.
People with other impairments are technically not eligible for support
under this Act. There is, for example, no provision for Sign Language
use.
Many disabled people are not aware of their rights under the Act. In
a country with 15 major languages, and low levels of literacy,
dissemination
of
information is a problem.
There has been lack of political will and excessive bureaucracy in
implementing and monitoring the legislation.
Only
0.14
per cent
of
disabled people in India have had regular
employment since 1960 (Mohan, 1999, cited by Moll, 2001). Therefore
*
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43
Social
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2009
the section
on
preventing dismissal or demotion of disabled people in
employment is only relevant to a small minority.
The Act is not integral to other legislation; e.g. provision for disabled
people’s education is under the Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment rather than the Department of Education and is therefore
separate from other legislation on education.
Each state is obliged to establish a Commission for Disability to
promote and monitor implementation of the Act. Of the
29
states,
4
have independent commissions under the Ministry for Social Justice
and Empowerment. Most states put disability work as an appendage
to another department, reflecting the significance attributed to
it.
In
Karnataka, for example, the person responsible for disability is also
the Secretary for Women and Child Welfare.
This Act was obtained through lobbying by disability activists and
NGOs.
Work was done to educate and mobilize public opinion as well as to
influence government officials. Consultation meetings, protest marches
and press conferences continue to be held to increase awareness and
encourage enforcement.(Yeo,
2001).
The International Day of the Disabled
is a focal point for this work. In areas where there are active organizations
of disabled people, e.g. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the
legislation has been used to help raise awareness of disabled people’s
rights. Most importantly, the Act helps to put the responsibility on society
to make adjustments to include disabled people.
Disabled people’s needs however, still remain peripheral to the
government’s agenda in terms of resource planning and allocation. There
is
no provision for representation of disabled people in the National
Parliament or local government. It has been left to
NGOs
to promote
awareness of the Act, translating it into local languages.
There are several other pieces of legislation and programmes of work,
which refer specifically to disabled people. The government also has
programmes providing assistance for poor people in general. Individual
states then decide whether or not to include disabled people in this work
or to consider disability separately.
.
CONCLUSION
People with disabilities tend to
be
among the most socially and economically
marginalized populations wherever they exist. Disability and poverty tend to
go together, forming a cycle of cumulative causation. Disabled people
are
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Social
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more likely to become disabled then those who are not. In official reports and
literature, and data on disability in developing countries
is
largely ignored.
Due to lack of accurate
data
on disability the needs of disabled people are
often poorly served by development agencies. Disability issues are often
viewed as outside the mainstream of development theory, policy and practice.
Disability
is
a major cause of poverty, social exclusion and inequality
throughout the world, on a par with gender discrimination and the denial
of
human rights. It
is
already known that: living in poverty increases the
likelihood of getting an impairment; disabled people generally experience
higher rates of poverty as a result of being disabled; and that when people
living in poverty become disabled they are often more severely marginalized
than are wealthier people. The existing legislation needs to be effectively
implemented. The amendments that have been suggested to the Act should
be
tabled and passed in Parliament. Disability should become
an
integral
part of all national policies. Poverty reduction can never
be
meet unless persons
with disabilities are included. Developing countries must strive to ensure that
they accept their responsibilities of the policy agenda particularly the
empowerment of the poor of which persons with disabilities form a part.
0
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