More than 2.1% of the population of India is disabled but we have done very little for the community since independence. While governments have done their share of work by providing free education and 4% reservation in government jobs, we still have a long way to go.
To make our readers aware about the current state of differently abled people in India, we are here with recent stats, facts, and data. Read on to get more clarity on the condition and status of disability in India.
Disability in India: Current status and data
- Out of total 70.22 crore male Indian citizens, 1.5 crore are disabled.
- There are 1.18 crore disabled women in India out of 65.46 crore female Indian citizens.
- According to the 2011 census, 20.3% of Indians with disabilities have movement disabilities, 18.9% have hearing impairments, and 18.8% have visual impairments.
- More than 65% of the overall disabled Indian population lives in rural areas.
- A Business Standard study in 2019 highlighted that persons with disabilities occupied 0.5% positions in India’s top companies.
- As per 2011 Census findings, only 61% of the disabled children aged 5-19 years were getting an education. While 12% had attended earlier, 27% never went to a school.
- Out of the total disabled population, nearly 58% people are literates.
- Only 62% of disabled males and 45% of disabled females are literate.
- In the rural areas, more than 45% of the disabled are literate while in urban areas, 67% disabled population can read and write.
- India is at the first spot in the world with the most visually challenged.
- More 2.5% of men have multiple disabilities whereas only about 1.9% of women have the same.
Disability in India in: Commentary
It goes without saying that disabled people in India live their lives with many difficulties. In India, the Rights of PWDs Act came into force only in 2016.
The Act defined a PWD as “a person with long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment which, in interaction with barriers, hinders his full and effective participation in society equally with others”.
Disabilities are of two types: temporary and permanent. In India, the public stance on disability is mainly of pity rather than support. Infrastructure and public spaces especially need to go a long way in becoming disability friendly.
Thankfully, a lot of nonprofits are doing their bit to improve the lives of differently abled people.
NGOs helping for differently abled in India:
Connect For, Mumbai
Connect For in Maharashtra has been working since 2015 to improve the quality of life for differently abled children. The nonprofit also works for unprivileged, child education, animal welfare, and environment protection. Connect For is a registered NGO that has touched thousands of life in the past decade.
Address: 1608-09, Prasad Chambers Opera House, Mumbai
Contact No: +91 7977347851; +91 8928281214
SOREM, Chandigarh
Society for the Rehabilitation of the Mentally Challenged (SOREM) is a NGO located in Chandigarh and working for the upliftment of the differently abled children. This NGO’s motive is that every differently abled child becomes self-sufficient. This nonprofit organisation provides academics, vocational therapy, speech therapy, sports activities, yoga, and co-curricular activities to physically and mentally challenged children.
Address: Sector-36-C, Chandigarh
Contact No: 0172 262 0704
Rehabilitation Society of the Visually Impaired, Lucknow
Rehabilitation Society of the Visually Impaired organisation has been working for visually impared children since 2005. Active in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, this local NGO provides consultation to differently abled and conducts training camps for visually impaired children.
Address: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh
Contact No: 0522 407 0138, 9958836145
Support these NGOs to help the disabled children and adults by donation or volunteer work to make a change.
Are you aware of any crucial disability related statistics or data that’s missing in this blog? Drop it in the comments section to help us expand this list.
If you run an NGO, get in touch with Helplocal to list it on our website.
Nice article
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