By Carmo Noronha
December 3, 2015 is upon us and across the world it is celebrated as ” International Day Of Persons With Disabilities (IDPD).” For 2015, the UN has selected the theme –
“ Inclusion Matters : Access and Empowerment for people of all abilities. ”
There are three sub-themes which give clarity to the main theme and also give an opportunity for all stakeholders to assess their initiatives – past, present and future and plan where resources should be allocated. These are:
- making cities inclusive and accessible for all
- improving disability data and statistics
- including persons with invisible disabilities in society and development.
The message of the Secretary General UN released for the occasion reads : “We mark this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities in the wake of the adoption of the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This global blueprint for action summons us to ‘leave no one behind.’… The 2030 Agenda includes many issues of concern to persons with disabilities and we must work together to transform these commitments to action….Earlier this year the UN Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction recognised the key role people with disabilities can play in promoting a more universally accessible approach in disaster preparedness and response…next year, (at) the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (HABITAT III) …the voices of persons with disabilities will be critical…….. Ensuring that accessibility is part of inclusive and sustainable development….requires improving our knowledge of the challenges facing all persons with disabilities…and ensuring that they are empowered to create and use opportunities. ….Together with persons with disabilities, we can move our world forward by leaving no one behind.”
There are two very critical issues raised by the UN Secretary General. One is the term used to describe this section of society. Earlier in the year it was heartening to read letters in this paper from various sections of society regarding this, leading one to believe that disability had become an issue of discussion within the wider community. Terms such as “differently abled”, “special”, “handicapped”, and comparisons with “normal” human beings are still in usage and using the term “disability” is seen as negative. However, when we look at the UN Secretary General’s message the term “persons with disability” is consistently used. This is done deliberately, since it echoes the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disability (UNCRPD) which states that “disability is an evolving concept that results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.”
Put simply disability can be defined as the relationship between a person’s impairment and their environment.
Thus : Impairment + Barrier = Disability.
Can we then dream of a world where there is impairment but no disability. YES and this is what the theme of IDPD 2015 is all about. An impairment on its own would not lead to disability should there be a completely inclusive and comprehensively accessible environment.
Thus : Impairment + Accessible Environment = Inclusion
The second issue raised by the UN Secretary General is participation of persons with disability in planning for development and accessible environments. In all development programmes clients are now seen as equal partners. Hence, how we perceive persons with disability is very important. There has been an evolution in this understanding and consequently in interventions. The understanding across the globe has moved from an individual, medical model to a social, inclusive and rights based model. The former model focussed on fixing the person with disability to fit into existing systems or place them in “special” institutions, while the latter model focuses on fixing systems to suit individual needs and celebrate human diversity. The former sees persons with disability as beneficiaries while the latter focuses on dignity and right to self determination in inclusive settings. It is important to note that one is not better than the other, but there is an evolution in understanding as more and more persons with disability have demanded their right to be equal partners in deciding about their lives. This is not only in the disability sector but in all development sectors.
What has been India’s response to this call by the UN. The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi will launch the “Accessible India Campaign” on December 3, 2015 which has a sub-theme “Accessible India – Empowered India: Creating a barrier-free environment to ensure equal opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.” The focus of this campaign will be on accessible public places, accessible transport, accessible information communication technology, Braille Signage for the visually impaired and Sign Language for the hearing impaired. The campaign has specific targets and has also allocated funds for cities across India. Some of the targets announced are:
- Making 25 most important buildings in Shillong fully accessible by July 2016
- Converting all Government buildings in Shillong fully accessible by March 2018
- Converting 10% of all existing public transport fully accessible by 2018
- Making all Government websites fully accessible by March 2017
- 50% of all public documents are fully accessible by 2017
- All public signages must have sign and braille by 2017
It is thus upto State Governments to take a call. This is no longer a social welfare issue and must be the concern firstly of all our political leaders from elected leaders, both from the District Councils to the Legislative Assembly and our Chief Minister and his Cabinet. However, it cannot just stop there. This is not possible without a complete change of attitude and the collaboration of all stakeholders including the most important: persons with disabilities, their families, the local communities and civil society organisations.
The call for action today is for MAINSTREAMING. While scholarships, book grants, transport allowance, uniform grants, scholarships for higher education are useful and appreciated these are still disability specific interventions and unless disability becomes a mainstream issue, inclusion will be a distant dream. A good example is the SSA programme and RTE where a concerted effort by the Central and State Government and other stakeholders has ensured high enrolment, including enrolment of children with disabilities. Once enrolment has been ensured the focus then shifts to participation and performance which continues to be a challenge in Meghalaya across the entire educational spectrum. Flagship programmes have a unique opportunity to mainstream. The Integrated Basin Development Livelihood Programme (IBDLP) of the Government of Meghalaya, while receiving accolades for its innovativeness, could easily mainstream disability so that “no one is left behind.” The Megha Health Insurance Scheme and the Right to Food which are being implemented can also ensure that all persons with disabilities are included.
Many schools are by default admitting children with invisible disabilities such as learning disabilities, autism, children with mental illness, mild intellectual impairment and others and these young people suffer because of a lack of early identification facilities and skilled interventions in the mainstream. Infact their numbers is much larger than those of children with other impairments. This is the greatest challenge of mainstreaming disability in education and is a focus for this years celebration.
I feel the time is right, either to have a Cell or Department monitored at the highest level which will monitor mainstreaming, particularly in the areas of health, education, livelihood and social inclusion both in terms of budget allocated and spent and also in terms of impact. Numbers are important and they tell a story. Are persons with disability moving from elementary to high and higher secondary education and then on to graduate and post graduate studies. Are persons with disabilities mainstreamed in the much touted “Skill India Programme?” How many persons with disability are included in the MGNREGA or NRLM?
The most pressing need is jobs. Young persons with disability like all young people of Meghalaya need jobs whether it is in the Government or private sector. Although the Supreme Court has asked for a time bound implementation of the 3% job reservation in all State Departments through special recruitment drives, the result on the ground is no where near 3%.
The scenario is not all gloom, there is a silent revolution taking place. CBR Programmes both of the Government and NGOs, the SSA programmes and celebration of IDPD at the District and Block Level are creating awareness and Disabled Persons Organisations and Parents’ Organisations are being established across the state advocating for participation on “an equal basis with others.” Private schools and colleges are looking for support to make their institutions inclusive. The Meghalaya Administrative Training Institute has included a module on Disability in all their training programmes for Government functionaries, the new B.Ed. syllabus has a compulsory paper on Inclusive Education…….
I have two dreams which keep interchanging. One is : Shillong the cleanest city in the world by 2024 and the other is Shillong the most accessible city in India by 2024 !
One is entitled CLEAN ( Community Led Environment Action Network), Shillong and the other is entitled CLAN (Community Led Accessibility Network), Shillong. Presently the methodology we use for each of these challenges is that for waste we mix everything and for disability we segregate. The solution is simple – just reverse the methodologies! For waste segregate and for disability include. The moment we do this waste becomes a lucrative resource and persons with disability become a wonderful human resource.
I dream of a day when there will no barriers and hence no disability!