India Country Report

Presented by Aloka Guha

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Slide 1

Disability Data in India

NSSO Survey 2002
18.5 million pwd

CENSUS 2001
21.5 million pwd

PREVALENCE
1.8% TO 2.15 %

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II(a). Landmark Legislations in India

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SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN FOR BMF

1. SELF HELP GROUPS

• Separate Federations of the Blind, the Deaf, the Physically Handicapped
• Disabled Rights Group – cross disability group
• Parents Associations of persons with Mental Retardation, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, and Multiple Disabilities, a federated national level body with branches across the country
• In the southern States of India, more than 50,000 Self Help Groups with .4 million disabled persons are organized into micro-credit groups
• In the State of Tamil Nadu, persons with disabilities are members of mainstream Self Help Groups
• In the Ministry of Rural Development, over Rs.20 crores ( Rs.200 million) are routed to disabled persons because of 3% reservation in their poverty alleviation programmes. This is done through Self Help Groups only

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2. Women with Disabilities

• In some States, women with disabilities are being mainstreamed into Women’s Self Help Groups for micro credit financing
• Mothers of children with disabilities are being included in mainstream Women’s Development Corporation activities
• Girls and women with disabilities currently have a 1:2 ratio with boys and men in access to rehabilitation. Efforts are on to correct this

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Early Detection, Early Intervention, and Training in Rehabilitation

• 18,422 - Doctors trained in early detection and early intervention
• 12,000 - Hitherto untrained personnel given Rehabilitation Training
• 25,000 - Rehabilitation professionals qualified and registered by RCI
• 5,600 - Graduate and Post-graduate professionals in rehabilitation
• 1,500 - B.Ed (Rehabilitation) graduates every year
• 220 - Batches of rehabilitation training per year
• 183 - Institutions offering training courses in rehabilitation
• 6,000 - General Teachers in Foundation Courses
• 16,32,228 - Children with disabilities identified through Sarva Shiksha Abhyan
• 11,30,854 - Children with disabilities enrolled in primary schools
• 1,91,113 - Aids and appliances given through regular schools
• 11,91,856 - Short-term teacher training in inclusive education
• 3% - Reservation in educational institutions
• 500 - Numbers of Scholarships available

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Training & Employment

• 12,941 - Persons given loans for self employment through National Handicapped Finance & Development Corporation.
• Rs.5,806.26 lakhs. Total money disbursed as loans to persons with disabilities
• 3% - Reservation in Government jobs for persons with physical, hearing and visual impairments.
• 1,900 - Jobs identified in the Government sector
• 1,075 - Jobs identified in the private sector
• Over 40,000 - Persons with disabilities in Government jobs
• 40 - Special Employment Exchanges/Cells established
• 11,400 - Persons with disabilities placed through these Exchanges/Cells

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5. Access to built environment and public transport

• Model Building Bye Laws prepared and circulated by Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India.

• A Grade Railway Stations, Central and State Government buildings, Airports, and some public buildings are made barrier-free.

• Visual, audio and tactile signs are being installed progressively.

• Some city buses are accessible.

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6 Poverty Alleviation and Social Security

• As mentioned earlier, all poverty alleviation programmes of the Government of India, especially those in the Ministry of Rural Development and that of the Ministry of Urban Development have a 3% allocation of funds for persons with disabilities. Under the Rural Development Ministry alone, 25,000 persons with disabilities intersecting with poverty, have been assisted.

• Most State Governments provide free bus passes, unemployment allowances, maintenance allowance and disability pensions to persons with disabilities.

• In selected districts, legal guardians of persons with disabilities are provided a monthly assistance of Rs.500 each.

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7. NGO Partnership

8. Consultation with persons with disabilities

9. National Awards

10. Convergence

11. Monitoring Mechanism

• At the Central level, the overall performance is monitored by a Secretary to the Government of India, in the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

• The Ministry is headed by a Cabinet Minister.

• At the State level too, the Departments of Disability are headed by a Minister, and administratively monitored by a State Secretary.

• The Ministry is increasingly outsourcing the evaluation of its projects to private professional organizations.

12. Rights Issues

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• Inter ministerial & Intra ministerial coordination
• Media Sensitization
• Lawyers, Architects, District Collectors, Village, Administration, Heads Training
• NGO Training in Management
• Govt’s Role
  • Direct Implementation
  • Facilitative Role

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• Video Conferencing Facility for Awareness Creation
• Tax exemption – 80 U & 80 DD for disabled persons, families & Legal Guardian
• Exemptions under excise, sales tax & customs levies for manufacture, sale and import of many assistive devices
• Donors to NGOs – 50 to 100% tax exemption
• Sectoral resource allocation – Education, Rural Development & Urban Development
• Interstate and Intrastate variation continue to cause concern

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Thank you

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