THE National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) conveys its greetings to the entire disabled people in the country on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, on December 3.

In its message last year the NPRD had sought to draw attention to the impact of the ongoing genocide in Gaza on people with disabilities there. A year since, their numbers have swelled.  According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, of the 94,460 injured, approximately 10,000 Palestinians have had their limbs amputated. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees estimates that at least ten children lose a limb every day in Gaza as a result of Israel's war since October 7, 2023.

In India, rising communal strife and violence is also contributing to increasing the number of people with disabilities. The impact of climate change and consequent natural disasters are also adversely affecting people with disabilities. Thousands of people who became disabled consequent to the horrific Bhopal Gas Tragedy forty years earlier on December 2, 1984 continue to remain neglected. It is also time to remember that people like Stan Swamy and Dr G N Saibaba were denied reasonable accommodations in jail and subjected to torture, which ultimately cost their lives.

A major chunk of the disabled population in India lives in pitiable conditions. They continue to be discriminated in accessing various things including but not restricted to education, employment and livelihood, notwithstanding laws and policies. This has mainly been due to the abysmally low budgetary allocations to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. Allocations to the department as a proportion of the total budget hover around a mere 0.025 per cent, a far cry from the 5 per cent allocation across ministries that disability rights organisations and activists have been demanding.

Despite tall claims and promises India’s disabled population continues to face systemic neglect and indifference. One of the major concerns has been the issue of rampant unemployment, which according to government’s own admission hovers around 65 per cent. Reservations in the government sector are being undermined with large scale privatisation, outsourcing and contractualisation.

The lack of livelihood opportunities makes a huge chunk of the disabled population dependent on the miserly amount of pension doled out by the state. The central government has refused to enhance the amount given through the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension, which continues to remain at a paltry Rs 300 per month since 2012, notwithstanding the claims of India being a five trillion economy and so on.

On this Disability Day, the NPRD reiterates its commitment to fight for an equitable and just society which will also entail the elimination of all barriers that prevent people with disabilities from achieving full inclusion and participation in all aspects of life.