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{{Lead too short|date=August 2020}}
The overall prevalence of '''people with disabilities''' is 4.52% of the population, i.e., '''63.28 million''', according to the [[Indian Council of Medical Research|ICMR]]'s publication from the NFHS-5 survey 2019-21.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pattnaik |first1=Sweta |last2=Murmu |first2=Jogesh |last3=Agrawal |first3=Ritik |last4=Rehman |first4=Tanveer |last5=Kanungo |first5=Srikanta |last6=Pati |first6=Sanghamitra |date=2023 |title=Prevalence, pattern and determinants of disabilities in India: Insights from NFHS-5 (2019–21) |journal=Frontiers in Public Health |volume=11 |doi=10.3389/fpubh.2023.1036499 |doi-access=free |pmid=36923034 |pmc=10009251 |issn=2296-2565}}</ref> [[India]] is a party to the [[United Nations]] [[Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities]]. Legislation that affects people with [[disabilities]] in India includes the [[Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016]], the [[Mental Health Care Act, 2017]], the National Trust Act, 1999, and the Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992. People with disabilities in India are faced with negative social attitudes in the wider population.

==Prevalence==
The number of people with disabilities in India was stated as 21 million in the [[2001 Census of India]].<ref name="ID-charity">{{cite journal |last1=Chavan |first1=B.S. |last2=Rozatkar |first2=Abhijit R. |title=Intellectual disability in India: Charity to right based |journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry |date=2014 |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=113–116 |doi=10.4103/0019-5545.130477 |pmid=24891695 |pmc=4040055 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In the [[2011 Census of India|2011 census]], the figure rose by 22.4% to 26.8 million.<ref name="toi-rising">{{cite news |last1=Sivakumar |first1=B. |title=Disabled population up by 22.4% in 2001-11 |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Disabled-population-up-by-22-4-in-2001-11/articleshow/28072371.cms |access-date=19 August 2018 |agency=Times of India}}</ref> According to the 2011 census, 20.3% of people with disabilities in India have movement disabilities, 18.9% have hearing impairments, and 18.8% have visual impairments. The 2011 census additionally collected data on mental disability for the first time, and found that 5.6% of Indians with disabilities fall into that category.<ref name="toi-rising"/>

However, [[Anita Ghai]] offered a higher estimate in 2002, of 70 million.<ref name=ghaiexcl/> The [[World Health Organization]]'s World Health Survey data from 2002 to 2004 gave a far higher estimate that 25% of people in India have some form of disability, much higher than the world average, but WHO has acknowledged that this survey had serious limitations.<ref name="2016-saikia">{{cite journal |last1=Saikia |first1=Nandita |last2=Bora |first2=Jayanta Kumar |last3=Jasilionis |first3=Domantas |last4=Shkolnikov |first4=Vladimir M. |title=Disability Divides in India: Evidence from the 2011 Census |journal=PLOS ONE |date=2016 |volume=12 |issue=2 |article-number=e0172596 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0172596|pmid=28199394 |pmc=5310902 |doi-access=free }}</ref> A 2009 World Bank report estimated that 5-8% of India's population had a disability.<ref name="wb-2009">{{cite web |last1=Human Development Unit (South Asia Region) |title=People with Disabilities in India: From Commitments to Outcomes |url=http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/577801468259486686/pdf/502090WP0Peopl1Box0342042B01PUBLIC1.pdf |publisher=World Bank |access-date=14 December 2019}}</ref>

Two analyses of data from a 2004 study in a rural area of [[Karnataka]] have estimated the rate of disability to be 6.3%<ref name="kumar-das-shashi-2008">{{cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=S. G. |last2=Das |first2=A. |last3=Shashi |first3=J. S. |title=Epidemiology of Disability in a Rural Community in Karnataka |journal=Indian Journal of Public Health |date=2008 |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=125–129 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23974106 |access-date=12 February 2019|pmid=19189833 }}</ref> and the rate of mental disability specifically to be around 2.3%.<ref name="kumar-et-al-2008">{{cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=S. Ganesh|display-authors=etal|title=Prevalence and pattern of mental disability using Indian disability evaluation assessment scale in a rural community of Karnataka |journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry |date=2008 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=21–23 |doi=10.4103/0019-5545.39754 |pmid=19771302 |pmc=2745873 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Data collected in a village in [[Chandigarh]] from 2004 to 2005 found the prevalence of disability to be 4.79%.<ref name="singh-prevalence">{{cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=Amarjeet |title=Burden of Disability in a Chandigarh Village |journal=Indian Journal of Community Medicine |date=2008 |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=113–115 |pmc=2784616 |pmid=19967036 |doi=10.4103/0970-0218.40880 |doi-access=free }}</ref> A major study published in 2018 of five sites in India found that 9.2% of children aged 2–5 and 13.6% of children aged 6–9 had at least one of seven [[neurodevelopmental disorder]]s (vision impairment, [[epilepsy]], neuromotor impairments including [[cerebral palsy]], hearing impairment, speech and language disorders, [[autism spectrum disorder]]s, and [[intellectual disability]]).<ref name="arora-et-al">{{cite journal |last1=Arora |first1=Narendra K. |last2=Nair |first2=M. K. C. |last3=Gulati |first3=Sheffali |last4=Deshmukh |first4=Vaishali |last5=Mohapatra |first5=Archisman |last6=Mishra |first6=Devendra |display-authors=etal |title=Neurodevelopmental disorders in children aged 2–9 years: Population-based burden estimates across five regions in India |journal=PLOS Medicine |date=2018 |volume=15 |issue=7 |article-number=e1002615 |doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002615|pmid=30040859 |pmc=6057634 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Legislation ==
===International===
India is a party to the United Nations [[Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities]], having signed the treaty on 30 March 2007 and ratified it on 1 October 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-15&chapter=4&lang=en |title=UN Treaty Collection: parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: List of parties |publisher=United Nations |date=2012-03-21 |access-date=2015-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819033725/http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-15&chapter=4&lang=en |archive-date=2012-08-19 }}</ref>

===National===
India enacted the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunity, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act in 1995 to provide recognition to the rights and special needs of disabled people in the country.<ref name=ID-charity/> It also provided for reservations for persons with disabilities in government jobs and higher educational institutions.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thequint.com/news/india/fact-check-what-has-the-govt-done-for-persons-with-disabilities|title=Fact Check: What Has the Govt Done for Persons With Disabilities?|work=The Quint|access-date=2018-10-31|language=en}}</ref> The [[Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016]] replaced the earlier legislation and increased the number of recognised disabilities from seven to 21.<ref name="narayan-john">{{cite journal |last1=Narayan |first1=Choudhary Laxmi |last2=John |first2=Thomas |title=The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016: Does it address the needs of the persons with mental illness and their families |journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry |date=2017 |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=17–20 |doi=10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_75_17 |pmid=28529356 |pmc=5419007 |doi-access=free }}</ref> While the 1995 legislation had reserved 3% of government jobs, the new legislation reserves 4%.<ref name="cross-disability">{{cite journal |last1=Friedner |first1=Michele |last2=Ghosh |first2=Nandini |last3=Palaniappan |first3=Deepa |title="Cross-Disability" in India?: On the limits of Disability as a Category and the Work of Negotiating Impairments |journal=South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal |date=2018|doi=10.4000/samaj.4516 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Under the new legislation, all institutions of higher education run or funded by the government must reserve 5% of their spaces for enrollment for people with disabilities.<ref name="cross-disability"/>

The rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities are protected under the [[Mental Health Care Act, 2017]].<ref name="duffy+kelly">{{cite journal |last1=Duffy |first1=Richard M. |last2=Kelly |first2=Brendan D. |title=India's Mental Healthcare Act, 2017: Content, context, controversy |journal=International Journal of Law and Psychiatry |date=2019 |volume=62 |issue=1 |pages=169–178 |doi=10.1016/j.ijlp.2018.08.002|pmid=30122262 |doi-access= |s2cid=52038968 }}</ref> The Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992 created the [[Rehabilitation Council of India]], which is tasked with training rehabilitation professionals and promoting research in rehabilitation and special education.<ref name="Morgan">{{cite journal |last1=Morgan |first1=Sumathi |title=Country Report - India |journal=Asia-Pacific Journal of Intellectual Disabilities |date=2018 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=72–78}}</ref> Another law governing disability affairs in India is the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999, or simply National Trust Act.<ref name="Morgan"/> This law created the [[National Trust]], which is a government body that works with volunteer networks and Disabled People's Organizations and also forms local-level committees that appoint legal guardians for people with disabilities deemed to need them.<ref name="Morgan"/>

==Government policy==

Issues related to disability are addressed by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, which falls under the [[Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment]].<ref name="Morgan"/> The government of India has also enacted initiatives such as the [[Accessible India Campaign]] to make public spaces and transportation barrier-free for persons with disabilities.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://m.hindustantimes.com/analysis/our-cities-cannot-be-smart-until-they-are-accessible-for-everybody/story-RXiPRhqmFG4wHj59UrS6qO.html|title=Our cities cannot be smart, until they are accessible for everybody|date=2018-10-23|work=hindustantimes.com/|access-date=2018-10-31|language=en}}</ref>

The usage of the term ''Divyangjan'' ("those with divine abilities") has been promoted by Prime Minister [[Narendra Modi]] as an alternative to the term "Persons with Disability".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dailypioneer.com/2018/india/whats-the-correct-word-a-little-sensitivity-goes-a-long-way.html|title=What's the correct word? A little sensitivity goes a long way!|last=Pioneer|first=The|work=The Pioneer|access-date=2018-10-31|language=en}}</ref> However, [[disability rights]] activists have called it condescending<ref>{{cite news |title=PM uses 'divyang' for the disabled, upsets activists |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/PM-uses-divyang-for-the-disabled-upsets-activists/articleshow/50698095.cms |agency=Times of India}}</ref> and derogatory.<ref>{{cite news |title=Please don't call us divyang, disability rights community tells PM |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/Please-don%E2%80%99t-call-us-divyang-disability-rights-community-tells-PM/article14018280.ece |agency=The Hindu |date=25 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Malhotra |first1=Nipun |title=First person: Why I don't want to be called 'differently abled' |url=https://scroll.in/article/926695/first-person-why-i-dont-want-to-be-called-differently-abled |access-date=18 May 2020 |work=Scroll.in |date=13 June 2019}}</ref>

===Accessibility in Transport===

Significant legal challenges have shaped the accessibility of air travel in India. In 2006, activists [[Subrata Pramanick]] and Rajiv Ranjan filed a landmark complaint (Case No. 3197/2006) against Deccan Aviation ([[Air Deccan]]) before the Court of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities. The case challenged the airline's practice of charging a "wheelchair tax" of ₹500 for mobility assistance. This litigation, cited in the company's 2006 SEBI prospectus <ref name="DeccanProspectus2006">{{cite web|title=Prospectus of Deccan Aviation Limited |url=https://www.sebi.gov.in/sebi_data/attachdocs/1292238806451.pdf|publisher=Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) |date=May 31, 2006 |page=144 |access-date=Mar 26, 2026}}</ref>, contributed to the eventual mandate that all Indian carriers provide wheelchair assistance to passengers with disabilities free of charge under [[Civil Aviation]] Requirements (CAR).

==Social attitudes==
Attitudes towards disability vary considerably between regions and sub-cultures. While disabilities do not hold any universal social stigma, there are regions and sub-cultures which do not agree. In some places, people with disabilities are seen as wicked or deceitful, or as unable to progress to adulthood and dependent on charity and pity for assistance.<ref name="ghaiexcl" /> In such scenarios, people with disabilities are often socially segregated, often as a results of ingrained cultural and religious attitudes toward disability.<ref name="kumar-et-al">{{cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=S. Ganesh |last2=Roy |first2=Gautam |last3=Kar |first3=Sekhar |title=Disability and Rehabilitation Services in India: Issues and Challenges |journal=Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care |date=2012 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=69–73 |doi=10.4103/2249-4863.94458 |pmid=24479007 |pmc=3893941 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Intersectional aspects===
Most people with disabilities in India and their families are focused on survival in the context of deep poverty. India's [[disability rights movement]], however, mainly comprises elite, middle-class activists who generally mirror the goals of the disability rights movement in Western countries.<ref name=ghaiexcl>{{cite journal|last1=Ghai|first1=Anita|author-link=Anita Ghai|title=Disabled Women: An Excluded Agenda of Indian Feminism|journal=Hypatia|date=2002|volume=17|issue=3|pages=49–66|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/hypatia/v017/17.3ghai.html|access-date=20 November 2015|doi=10.1353/hyp.2002.0052|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Disability in India is affected by other social divisions such as class, gender, and [[caste system in India|caste]].<ref name="ghaiexcl" /> Statistics show that women with disabilities in India are more marginalized than their male counterparts.<ref name="ghaiexcl" /> [[Anita Ghai]] argues that [[feminism in India|Indian feminism]] has ignored the unique conditions of women with disabilities.<ref name="ghaiexcl" />

==Culture==
===Cinema===
India's [[Bollywood|Hindi-language cinema]] has often reinforced negative stereotypes about people with disabilities, but more recently it has produced several films that have helped raise awareness.<ref name=moha>{{cite journal|last1=Mohapatra|first1=Atanu|title=Portrayal of Disability in Hindi Cinema: A Study of Emerging Trends of Differently-Abled|journal=Asian Journal of Multidimensional Research|date=Dec 2012|volume=1|issue=7|url=http://www.tarj.in/images/download/ajmr/AJMR%20DEC.%202012%20PAPERS%20PDF/12.12,%20Dr.%20Atanu%20Mohapatra.pdf|access-date=20 November 2015}}</ref> A recurrent theme has for a long time been that disability is a punishment for misdeeds, for instance in ''[[Jeevan Naiya]]'' (1936), ''[[Aadmi (1968 film)|Aadmi]]'' (1968), and ''[[Dhanwan (1981 film)|Dhanwan]]'' (1981).<ref name="moha" /> Characters with mental disabilities have frequently been used as comic relief, a trend which has been criticized by [[Dinesh Bhugra]] as reinforcing social stigma.<ref name="moha" /> Atanu Mohapatra identifies several ways in which women with disabilities are misrepresented in Hindi films as compared to men with disabilities: they are included less frequently, they very rarely win the love of able-bodied men despite the converse often being the case, they are much less likely to become self-supporting economically, and they are not included unless they are physically attractive.<ref name="moha" />

The decade following 2005 has seen a shift in the representation of people with disabilities by Hindi cinema. The immediate cause for the shift appears to have been an international disability film festival in 2005 facilitated by the Ability Foundation (an Indian NGO).<ref name="moha" /> ''[[Black (2005 film)|Black]]'' (2005) broke new ground by focusing on a female protagonist with a disability, a girl who is blind, deaf, and mute but succeeds academically after considerable struggle.<ref name="moha" /> Other films including ''[[Taare Zameen Par]]'' (2007) by famed actor and director [[Aamir Khan]] have explored the lives of people with [[dyslexia]], [[progeria]], [[Asperger syndrome]], and [[amnesia]], among other conditions.<ref name="moha" /> There were some earlier precedents to these more well-rounded portrayals, including ''[[Koshish]]'' (1972) and ''[[Sparsh (film)|Sparsh]]'' (1980), which explored deafness and blindness respectively.<ref name="moha" /> Conversely, some recent Hindi films have continued to display ill-founded stereotypes about people with disabilities.

In addition, some [[Tamil cinema|Tamil film industry]] movies have portrayed people with disabilities, like the movie ''[[Deiva Thirumagal]]'', which depicts a father who is neurodivergent and his daughter.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

===Sport===
{{see also|India at the Paralympics|India national blind cricket team}}
India made its [[Summer Paralympic Games|Summer Paralympic]] début at the [[1968 Summer Paralympics|1968 Games]], competed again in [[1972 Summer Paralympics|1972]], and then was absent until the [[1984 Summer Paralympics|1984 Games]]. The country has participated in every edition of the Summer Games since then. It has never participated in the [[Winter Paralympic Games]].<ref>{{IPC medals | npc = IND }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | first=Anita | last=Ghai | author-link=Anita Ghai | title=Rethinking Disability in India | year=2015 | publisher=Routledge India | location = New Delhi | isbn = 978-0-8153-7321-6}}
* {{cite book | editor-first=Nandini | editor-last=Ghosh | title=Interrogating Disability in India: Theory and Practice | year=2016 | publisher=Springer India | location = New Delhi | isbn = 978-81-322-3593-4}}
* {{cite book | editor-first=Nilika | editor-last=Mehrotra | title=Disability Studies in India: Interdisciplinary Perspectives | year=2020 | publisher=Springer Nature Singapore | location = Singapore | isbn = 978-981-15-2615-2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.disabilityaffairs.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/RPWD%20ACT%202016.pdf Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016]
* [http://www.disabilityaffairs.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/National_Trust_act-englsih.pdf National Trust Act, 1999]
* [http://www.disabilityaffairs.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/rciact.pdf Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992]
* [http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Mental%20Health/Mental%20Healthcare%20Act,%202017.pdf Mental Healthcare Act, 2017]

{{Social issues in India}}
{{Disability by country}}

[[Category:Disability in India| ]]
[[Category:Disability in Asia|India]]

Disability in India - Revision history

FranceGqd9358746 at 06:31, 26 March 2026