DISABILITY PROFILE OF NEW DELHI

How might we profile New Delhi for Disability ?

CONTEXT

We conducted research study to understand how Delhi is towards people with disability (PWD). The first step in compiling this report was to gain an understanding of disability by itself. This included doing research into the various models of disability, the policy frameworks around it, as well as looking at the personal stories of PWD, the problems they face in their day to day functioning, politically correct language, and able-privilege. Following this a review and collection of existing data on various domains with the help of NSSO reports, government websites, centre for social justice and empowerment and so forth was done. This was done as exhaustively as possible in all the domains that are mentioned in the report.

Gaps from these reports were then collected and field visits to district and state offices of various departments were visited in search of the missing data. After this collection of data, focus group discussions and case studies were done to grasp subjectively the life of a PWD. The focus group discussions were held in groups of 8-10 in three sessions- one with PWD, one with parents of PWD, and one with professionals working in the field of disability. This helped reflect on their realities as well as gain different perspectives. This was followed by three case studies taken to understand in-depth the lives of the people with disability. The interviews were exhaustive and all parameters were covered.

ACCESS

Few cities in the country are truly sensitive towards the needs of their disabled population. Delhi has made some efforts to be inclusive and accommodative of PWDS. This section of the report focused on transport facilities in the city, specifically the Metro and the Railways, design of buildings as well as recommendations for improvement. It also included details of services and facilities provided, budget, fieldwork and challenges.

EDUCATION

The Government of India has taken great initiative to ensure that CWDs are also given free and quality education. There are several policies in place and further initiatives taken by state governments as well. This section broadly focused on the existing quantitative data in the city of Delhi in terms of no. of disabled students enrolled, no. of schools etc, initiatives taken by the Delhi government to improve education access for PWDs such as the Equal Opportunity Cell, Delhi University, TEPSE etc.

HEALTH

This section focused on various preventive, curative, and rehabilitative aspects of disability. Discussing the various measures taken by different departments in preventing disability like maternity care, ante-natal and post-care; rehabilitative and curative focusing on the different schemes and actions the government offers to people with disability in terms of surgery, aids and appliances; and additionally tried to throw light on the attitude of the health industry towards people with disability.

EMPLOYMENT

This section analyzed data available across different age groups and different types of disability mapped with type of employment ranging from main workers, marginal workers less than 3 months, marginal workers between 3-6 months and non workers.

USER PERSONA

User Personas were developed based on interviews that were conducted following the focus group discussion. The interviews highlighted the experiences that a person with disability went through in their life living in the city of Delhi.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the data collected from various resources and experiences recounted by the people in focus group discussions that were conducted following recommendations came to light.

ACCESSIBILITY

1. Access to the health and work places
2. Access to public transport
3. Access to entertainment places and public spaces

EMPLOYMENT

1.Need for more comprehensive data on where the people with disability are employed
2. More information on the state of the workplaces indicated by FGDs and Interviews
3. Hostile work environment
4. Low salaries in comparison to people with no disability
5. More data is needed about people with disability who are self employed

HEALTH PLAN

1.Need for data on reproductive health of women with disability 2.Disability of child or mother due to complications in pregnancy
3. Disability specific camps and services
4. Subsidizing medicines/ Delhi financial assistance scheme insufficient
5.Health of children with disability is also missing

SOCIAL PROTECTION

1. Awareness programs to inform people about the facilities/ schemes available to them.
2. Smooth access to these since PWD find the process tiring and cumbersome especially since many places are not accessible in terms of sheer infrastructure. 3. Proper implementation of the schemes
4. Unemployment allowance