| 70 million disabled in India, and only 2% are educated and 1% employed |
According to one study, Indians spend Rs 72,000 crore per annum in caring for their disabled family members. The government bears only a fraction of this cost
"There has been a systematic neglect of the disabled people in India," says Javed Abidi, chairman of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP). "Be it in the area of education, employment or access, the starkness will stare you in the face. Even without number-crunching, we can see that 99% of the disability-related NGOs are working in the area of service delivery -- special schools, welfare support or vocational training. Still, the government officially admits that less than 2% of disabled people are getting educated. So when the government makes education for all a fundamental right, who do they mean?"
"Government figures also put the number of disabled people who are employed at less than 1%," continues Abidi. "This only means that officially 99% of the disabled cannot find employment. Some amount of service delivery is necessary but (and I will surely invite wrath from some quarters for saying this) there has been an undue emphasis on service delivery. The larger picture is lost. Both NGOs and the government have to be squarely blamed for this. It is time for some serious introspection. Talk to a disabled person and see how frustrated and bitter he or she is at how poorly his or her concerns are represented. Do we really think masala-grinding, envelope-pasting and candle-making can make a disabled person self-sufficient?"
http://infochangeindia.org/2003060269/Disabilities/Features/70-million-disabled-in-India-and-only-2-are-educated-and-1-employed.html
photo: http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/10/stories/2009041057440100.htm
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