Kolkata Meeting
Census 2011 pegs the number of persons with disabilities in India at 26.9 million, which is
2.12% of the population. A World Bank study ‘People with Disabilities in India: From
Commitments to Outcomes (2007)’ states that the number of persons with disabilities in India
ranges between 55 to 90 million. This wide variation in numbers reinforces the fact that a
large section of the community remains invisible, not counted, not certified and consequently
outside the social net.
Disability in India has a direct correlation with poverty. Disability leads to poverty and
poverty causes disability. Caught in this nexus, persons with disabilities have little or no
access to education, vocational training, and livelihood and
employment opportunities. Unable to access welfare measures and entitlements, denied social
security, treated as recipients of charity and doles, and because of widespread ignorance
about their status as rights holders, they stand marginalized and most of their human rights
stand violated. Lack of information about laws and their inability to access the justice system
completes their marginalization.
Within this paradigm, women with disabilities, persons with intellectual, developmental,
multiple and psycho social disabilities, and indigent persons with disabilities in particular face
multiple levels of marginalization and exclusion.
The last decade has brought rights-based advances for the disabled community in India. After
the ratification of the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007, the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act was legislated in December 2016 and the Mental
Health Care Act in 2017, raising hopes and aspirations of the community. The Disability
Rights Initiative is recognized as the only one of its kind in providing a comprehensive range
of socio-legal support services to India’s disabled community.
2.12% of the population. A World Bank study ‘People with Disabilities in India: From
Commitments to Outcomes (2007)’ states that the number of persons with disabilities in India
ranges between 55 to 90 million. This wide variation in numbers reinforces the fact that a
large section of the community remains invisible, not counted, not certified and consequently
outside the social net.
Disability in India has a direct correlation with poverty. Disability leads to poverty and
poverty causes disability. Caught in this nexus, persons with disabilities have little or no
access to education, vocational training, and livelihood and
employment opportunities. Unable to access welfare measures and entitlements, denied social
security, treated as recipients of charity and doles, and because of widespread ignorance
about their status as rights holders, they stand marginalized and most of their human rights
stand violated. Lack of information about laws and their inability to access the justice system
completes their marginalization.
Within this paradigm, women with disabilities, persons with intellectual, developmental,
multiple and psycho social disabilities, and indigent persons with disabilities in particular face
multiple levels of marginalization and exclusion.
The last decade has brought rights-based advances for the disabled community in India. After
the ratification of the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007, the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act was legislated in December 2016 and the Mental
Health Care Act in 2017, raising hopes and aspirations of the community. The Disability
Rights Initiative is recognized as the only one of its kind in providing a comprehensive range
of socio-legal support services to India’s disabled community.