Amidst all the pre-election brouhaha over bonds, about 26.8 million persons with disabilities (PWDs), about 2.21% of the country’s population (as per the 2011 census), are waiting to be heard in their quest for political inclusion.
According to the Election Commission data, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of persons with disabilities (PwD) voters — 1.22 million or about 0.8 % — of 153 million voters in the state.
Telangana, Odisha and Jharkhand also have substantial numbers of registered disabled voters (528,000 or 1.6%; 498,000 or 1.49%; and 358,000 or 1.4%, respectively).
In a do-or-die election, in which political parties are chasing every vote, the voice of these registered voters can actually tilt the balance in close contests, where even a few hundred votes can turn the tide.
Today, when guarantees are pouring in for various sections of society, the PWDs are also vociferously demanding their inclusion in the party manifestos.
Till sometime back special people used to demand adequate facilities to cast their vote but now they seek participation in the democratic process as they see a direct connection with their progress. And why not especially when they are equipping themselves with skills to perform in schools and offices?
So far, the Election Commission has been focusing on providing facilities to PWDs to cast their votes and has not as yet tabulated their votes polled.
Now a Manifesto For and By People with Disabilities is ready after year-long countrywide discussions organised by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) in association with the National Disability Network and the National Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The suggestions of over 10,000 diverse stakeholders have been incorporated and now the team is knocking on the doors of state parties, ministers and parliamentarians to include their demands in their manifestos.
UP is also high on their agenda because of the sheer number of persons with disabilities in the state.
NCPEDP executive director Arman Ali recently met the state minister for backward welfare and disability empowerment Narendra Kashyap and submitted a memorandum to him. According to Ali, the minister promptly sent it to the concerned people in the government and the party.
When asked, officials in know of developments said that chief minister Yogi Adityanath has initiated multiple steps to support PWDs like increasing their pension, providing training facilities to hone their skills and conducting a Viklang Mela — the first iteration was organised in 2023. But the party has to take a call on the inclusion of their demands in the manifesto.
Ali said he hopes to meet the BJP national president JP Nadda and place his demands. The NCPEDP officials have personally met P Chidambaram of Congress and Deepali Masirkar, director of the Election Commission, besides leaders in Telangana.
The 10-point manifesto demands a five percent budgetary allocation, affordable and accessible health insurance, inclusive buildings, products, services, sports infrastructure, monthly social security allowance of ₹5000, and increasing enrolment of children with disabilities as well as five percent reservation, digital literacy and smartphones for girls,
Tarannum Nahid Khan, who heads Dosti, an integrated programme for children with special needs run by the educational institution Study Hall in Lucknow since 2005 feels the government needs to create youth awareness clubs to increase their acceptability, despite limitations in the society.
Urvashi Sahni, the founder-director of Study Hall demands overhauling of the education system by introducing well-curated integrated programmes for children with different mental and physical abilities in schools with well-qualified educators. While making special education programmes mandatory in teachers’ training, she feels vocational training combined with a quota for jobs in industry and government services would help.
Nita Bahadur set up Drishti Samajik Sansthan in 1990 to take care of abandoned physically and mentally challenged children. “Often the government sends them to us. But where is the budget, where are the hospitals to get their surgeries done? The government enthusiastically started Mission Vatsalya but the funding was delayed by several months. Besides PWD budgeting, and setting up more homes for them, the state needs a compassionate system to look into the demands,” Bahadur said.
Will the political parties look into the demands with compassion?
Sunita Aron is a consulting editor with the HT based in Lucknow. You can find her on X as @overto. The weekly column, Keeping up with UP tackles everything from politics to social and cultural mores in the country’s most populous state. The views expressed are personal.
