The struggles of the disabled

The rights of disabled people have been recognised only recently. The activist and scholar Anita Ghai compared their situation to the hero of Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man: people look through them as if they were not there.

Common views of disability:

• It is seen as purely biological: a fault in the body.
• The disabled person is seen as a victim, someone who needs help and pity.
• In India, labels like 'bechara' (poor thing) and beliefs in karma (disability as punishment for past deeds) make it seem a matter of fate.

The social view: the disability activist Brisenden said 'the disablement lies in the construction of society'. A person in a wheelchair is not disabled by the wheelchair, but by buildings with only stairs, buses without ramps, schools that will not admit them, and employers who will not hire them.

So society can either disable or enable: with ramps, sign language, Braille, accessible websites and inclusive schools, many 'disabilities' stop being barriers.

Films have helped change attitudes. Iqbal (2005) tells the story of a village boy who cannot hear or speak but becomes a fast bowler for India.

Disability and poverty feed each other:

• Poverty causes disability: through malnutrition, poor health care, and dangerous work.
• Disability causes poverty: through exclusion from schooling and jobs, and the costs of care.

Counting is the first step to planning. Census 2011 collected data on eight types of disability, including seeing, hearing, speech, movement and mental disability.