manish kumar, Post News Network, Bhubaneswar, July 1: The recently released data (related to the 2011 Census) on disability gives a very clear picture about the different types of disabilities existing in the state and the total number of disabled in different categories living here, fighting all odds to thrive in their lives.
Experts dealing with the physically challenged people, however, feel that since the 2001 Census, much has changed and now the physically challenged people are getting good opportunities to fight disability and flourish in the way they choose to. Critics and experts also say that the latest 2011 Census data on disability are more authentic and rational.
“If we compare the scenario now to the scene during 2001, it has undergone a sea change. Now, the physically challenged have a number of opportunities to live a normal life and do well in their lives. In terms of government initiatives for the disabled, those have become more systematic to help the disadvantaged. Now many corporate firms too are coming forward to help the disabled – this was not there earlier,” said Ram Kishore Sharma, assistant director, Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for the Handicapped, Pokhariput. Moreover, today there are better technologies available to help the physically challenged.
Physically challenged youths from the state also think that in the past few years the opportunities have cascaded for the differently-abled. Manjulata Panda, who is doing her PhD (political Science) from the Utkal University suffers from visual impairment.
She said, “In the last one decade technology has revolutionised the world and has helped many people, who need to bridge the gap to succeed. Now there are numerous software available in the world, which can help the disabled to use the technology like any other normal people. I often use some software to read texts available online either through mobile or computer.”
According to the 2011 Census data the 12 lakh disabled of the state live in 9,88,400 households across Orissa. The report also says that out of the total number of people with disabilities, 2,37,858 face problems related to hearing, 68,517 face problems concerning speech, 2,59,899 face problems related to movement, while 1,26,212 suffer from multiple disabilities.
Several experts pointed out that this time the census data are more authentic and systematic, as those match with the data of other available studies and moreover, this time there are data available in eight categories of disabilities against the five categories made available last time.
Government officials, meanwhile, say that there are numerous initiatives taken by the government to aid the disabled across the country. A source from the Union social justice and empowerment ministry said, “A number of initiatives have been taken in the past few years to aid the handicapped across the country. In March 2015 the Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry signed an MoU with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to boost skill development among the disabled. A corpus of Rs 100cr was also announced for the welfare of the differently-abled.”
On Wednesday, to serve the cause of the differently-abled of the state better, the state government decided to carve out a separate department, ‘Social Security and Empowerment for the People with Disabilities’, from the Women and Child Development ministry. A separate secretary-level official is now likely to head the department to pay proper attention to the needs of the disabled people of the state.
Many, however, think that there are lots of scope to work on to improve the overall scenario in the state. Prakash Rath, area director of Special Olympics, said, “Although compared to 2001, the situation has improved a bit, but there is ample space for improvement. Even now, many public buildings are not accessible by the disabled people. Government needs to make adequate arrangement for the welfare of the disabled.”
