India Rehabilitation Policies, Some Local Level Initiatives for Inclusion

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  • First global report on disability
    • 1 billion disabled people worldwide: 15 pc of the global population
  • Despite all the shift towards inclusion, disabled people remain ‘second class citizens’ according to WHO and WB
  • Barriers/Problems
    • Stigma/negative social attitude
    • Discrimination
    • Lack of adequate healthcare and rehabilitation services
    • Inaccessible transport, buildings and information/built environment
    • A large proportion of the physically challenged are not even aware of their entitlements

India

  • Census 2001: 2.19 crore persons with disabilities in India (2.13% of the total population)
  • India is a signatory to the Proclamation on the Full Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities in the Asian and the Pacific Region.
  • The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995
    • Notes
    • Provides for the Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities which has been mandated to take steps to safeguard the rights of the persons with disabilities
  • Compliance with the recommendations in the law has been extremely uneven
    • Because it says that the concerned organisations/governments/local bodies should adopt these measures within the “limits of their economic capacity and development”

Other initiatives by the govt

  • Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India, 1972
  • National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation
  • Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992
  • National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disability Act, 1999
  • National Policy for Persons with Disabilities 2006
    • Physical rehab
    • Educational rehab
    • Economic rehab
  • New legislation for persons with Disabilities has been proposed

Some Local Level Initiatives for Inclusion

  • Mayurbhanj District Administration (Orissa) launched an initiative called ‘Window of Hope’
  • Re-engineering of complex government processes to suit the needs of the differently abled peoples