India's long road to equality

There are at least 70 million disabled people in India, many living in poverty. But Javed Abidi says the country is making great strides towards equality

In spite of being from an average, middle-class family in India, I was lucky to win a scholarship which enabled me to go to the US in 1985. Four years and one life-threatening surgery later, when I decided to return to my country, a lot of people, including my friends and family, thought I was mad! They had genuine fears that life as a wheelchair-user would be difficult in India. Finally, the Gemini in me prevailed and I returned and settled here in Delhi in 1989.

Their fears almost proved correct when for six months, I remained jobless. I had graduated summa cum laude in communications, with a specialisation in print journalism, but employers refused to look at my above 90 per cent credentials; instead, they would only stare at my wheelchair! They patted me on my back. Told me how brave I was, how courageous, how intelligent…

But I didn’t give up. I started freelancing. I began with small city magazines and worked my way up. Within six months, I was writing for mainstream national publications. I interviewed politicians, actors, industrialists, ministers and even the then Prime Minister. I was able to prove, to myself I guess more than anybody else, that a wheelchair-user could be a damn good journalist.

In the process, however, I was a bit heartbroken. I realised how tough it was to be a disabled person in India. From education, to employment, to access, it was all very, very gloomy.

After Rajiv Gandhi’s sudden and tragic death in 1991, his widow Sonia Gandhi established the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF). Disability was one of RGF’s five core areas and I was chosen to establish and head that unit. We started work in May, 1992. The next four years were astonishing. By 1993, we established the need for a law to protect the rights of disabled people. By 1994, we were able to get it drafted. By 1995, the Disability Act was passed, unopposed, by both Houses of Parliament!

But laws exist only on paper. Implementation has been a rough journey. From persuasion to advocacy to activism; sit-ins, rallies, court cases and yes, detention at various police stations – what a journey it has been. Politicians forgot all about us and the law they had drafted and passed. No wonder; India has so many laws! We couldn’t have achieved a quarter of our success had it not been for the unstinted support of the media. The judiciary also played a huge role.

Things are very different today than in 1989. Being a journalist, I guess, is no longer a big deal! Disabled people are aspiring to be lawyers and doctors. The glass ceiling has been broken and some are now getting into India’s premier Civil Service. In 1989, there was not a single ramp in the city of Delhi. Now, there are a few hundred. The Delhi Metro is not just world-class but entirely accessible. The new buses on Delhi’s roads are low-floor and disabled-friendly. The concept of inclusive education has been firmly established. Regular schools, colleges and universities are admitting disabled people and the Confederation of Indian Industries has unveiled a corporate code on disability. Things are looking good and I for one, as a disabled Indian, feel mighty pleased.

Let’s not forget that India’s population is a billion plus. Even conservative estimates suggest 70 million or more are disabled people. Four-fifths of the population are rural based and many of them are still very poor. And there is a direct link between poverty and disability.

There is still a long, long road ahead.

• Javed Abidi is honorary director of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People in India and secretary of the Commonwealth Disabled Peoples’ Forum