People with special needs among most deprived in India: report

Disabled people have much lower educational attainment rates, with 52 per cent illiteracy against a 35 per cent average for the general population. Illiteracy is high among children across all categories, in even the best performing major states, a significant share of out-of-school children are those with disabilities — 27 per cent in Kerala, over 33 per cent in Tamil Nadu.

Disabled adults also have far lower employment rates than the general population — and this fell from 43 per cent in 1991 to 38 per cent in 2002, even in the midst of economic growth.

Private sector employment incentives for hiring disabled people are few and piecemeal. In the late 1990s, employment of people with disability among large private firms was only 0.3 per cent of their workforce. Among multinational companies, the situation was far worse — only 0.05 per cent.

Social attitudes and stigma play an important role in limiting the opportunities of disabled people for full participation in social and economic life, often even within their own families. For example, in surveys carried out for the report, around 50 per cent of households saw the cause of disability as a “curse of God”. Women with disabilities face numerous additional challenges.

In early 2006, a National Policy on Persons with Disabilities was approved by the Government of India. However, the only states that have draft disability policies so far are Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.

“Increasing the status and social and economic participation of people with disabilities would have positive effects on everyone, not just disabled people” said Philip O’Keefe, Lead Social Protection Specialist and main author of the report. “A simple example is increasing accessibility of public transport and buildings for disabled people. More broadly, people with disabilities who are better educated and more economically active will generate higher growth in which everyone will share,” he added.

The report says that as the country makes economic progress, the incidence of communicable disease-induced disabilities such as polio are likely to fall, whereas age and lifestyle-related disabilities and those due to traffic accidents are expected to rise sharply.

For example, internationally, the lowest reported disability rates are in sub-Saharan Africa while the highest are in the Organisation for Economic Development (OECD) countries. The report, therefore, highlights the need for a multi-faceted approach so that disabled people realise their full individual potential and maximise their social and economic contribution to society.

Telling figures

•Children living with disability are around 4 to 5 times less likely to be in school than SC/ST children.

•Disabled adults also have far lower employment rates than the general population — and this fell from 43 per cent in 1991 to 38 per cent in 2002

•Private sector employment incentives for hiring disabled people are few and piecemeal.

•In the late 1990s, employment of people with disability among large private firms was only 0.3 per cent of their workforce. Among multinational companies, the situation was far worse — only 0.05 per cent.