Capacity-building of the physically challenged through community-based rehabilitation

Abstract

Disability management has metamorphosed world-wide, from the institution-based approach in which the disabled are dependent on institutional support, to community-based rehabilitation (CBR) in which the emphasis is on their empowerment, and integration into the community. In India, too, the winds of policy change have been felt, as attested by the People with Disabilities (PWD) Act, 1995. Even before the Act, NGOs were engaged in CBR, but the new legislation linked and endorsed the CBR approach and started providing funding to some reputed NGOs like the Blind People's Association in Ahmedabad. The case studies presented here, from Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, show how motivation and assistance from CBR workers were crucial. There are indications however that community support is for such initiatives are poor and that Government support target-oriented and not sufficiently sensitive to the needs of the disabled.