[India Today]

Published date: 31st Dec 1981

The International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP) began with a bang: the National Federation of the Blind led its members in a vociferous agitation in Delhi, which was called of only after the Government promised increased aid and opportunities, for the blind. The IYDP is ending with a whimper: the facilities extended to the handicapped reach a bare 1 per cent of India’s 68 million disabled.

It is a sad reflection on India’s commitment to the disabled that the plethora of schemes begun in the year in large part owed their existence to the symbolism of the IYDP. Otherwise, official apathy to the cause is apparent-as for instance in ,the 1981 census, which showed figures only for the blind, the deaf and the crippled (4.7 lakh, 2.7 lakh and 3.6 lakh respectively). As for concrete measures like legislation, the Lok Sabha was told on December 3-28 days before IYDP ends-that the report of the Working Group set up to suggest such legislation “is awaited”.

The Government also appears to be miserly in doling out funds for the cause. During 1980-81, Rs 1.12 crore was distributed among 112 organisations as grants-in-aid. An additional Rs 48.39 Lakh was given in the form of aids and appliances to be distributed free or at 50 per cent discount. This is simply not enough-International Labour Organisation experts estimate that to stem the tide of the disabled each Indian would have to spend an average of Rs 2 per annum-which works out to Rs 13.6 crore annually.

Nationally, there are 18 employment exchanges for the physically handicapped, and 12 vocational rehabilitation centres. Sixteen states have so far introduced reservations in jobs of between I and 4 per cent, and a few have begun giving monthly doles ranging between Rs 25 and Rs 40. However, the Government seems to be aware of only the urban disabled-presumably because they are more vocal and educated, and possess the means for organised protest. Only 11 Rural Rehabilitation Extension Centres have so far been sanctioned this year, certainly not enough to handle the vast numbers of’ rural handicapped.
The disabled acutely resent the lack of proper awareness about their handicaps. It is well known, for instance, that more than 50percent of spastic children possess average intelligence, but a series of conferences recently sponsored by the Spastics Society of India (SSI) and the Action India group in Delhi, Madras, Calcutta and Bombay threw up depressing facts: hardly any facilities exist in India for spastics-wheelchairs, braces, calipers and crutches are all that are available. No specialised equipment .for spastics is available lo call^^. Even the therapists are denied integrated training, being restricted to the mutually exclusive disciplines of speech, occupational and physical therapy.

Other disabilities fare no better. The deaf’ have no proper facilities for education and can never aspire to attending university classes. The mentally retarded have slightly better prospects-about 150 institutions all over the country cater to about 10,000 mentally retarded children. Paraplegics-those paralysed from the waist down-have an agonising time moving around: no public building is designed so that a person in a wheelchair can move around unaided.
Governments abroad do much more for disabled citizens. In many cities in the West, it is now mandatory for architects to include, facilities for the disabled in all public buildings. In the United States, the Rehabilitation Act of I973 allows disabled persons full participation in any state-aided programme or activity. This Act also provides for a Board to operate the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, making public facilities accessible to the disabled. Occasions like the Stoke Mandeville Games introduced in Britain in 1948, he in integration. And the famous ‘man in a wheelchair’ symbol signals availability of facilities, and invites help when exhibited by a disabled person.

Belatedly, Indian wheels have started moving. National institutes for the deaf and the mentally retarded are to be set up in Bombay and Hyderabad-these will join the existing institutes for the blind and the orthopedically handicapped in Dehra Dun and Calcutta. Programmes now in the pipeline will aim at better child nutrition, care, hygiene and integrated child development services. The stress on proper medical care is understandable: large numbers of children become blind because of’ Vitamin A deficiency.

Medical care is one thing, rehabilitation is another. The greatest challenge for the disabled is living with the stares and the pitying sympathy of a society that is indifferent to their plight. The hoary adage of God helping those who help themselves has been proved time and time again by gritty disabled who have overcome their handicap to tackle the world on its own, harsh terms. INDIATODAY presents case studies of typical people who, although they might not find place in the Guinness Book Of Records, are in a manner of speaking. Celebrities-they celebrate Life, and hope, and the triumph of mind over body