CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH BIHAR

In the partial fulfillment of the requirement on the subject of sociology-III

of BA.LLB (Hons.)

ACADEMIC YEAR:- 2019-2020

Submitted on 10th December 2019

Disability as an indicator of social exclusion

Submitted to: Submitted by

Dr. Parijat Pradhan Pratik kumar

Assistant Professor B.A LLB (Hons.)

School of sociological studies CUSB1813125066

Central university of South Bihar 3rd Semester

Declaration
I, Pratik Kumar, a student of Central University of South Bihar, hereby declare that I have
completed the project on the topic “Disability as an indicators of social exclusion in the
society” for the academic year 2019-2020, under the kind guidance of Dr. Parijat Pradhan, as a
partial fulfillment of the course curriculum in the second year of integrated program B.A LLB.
This information submitted herein is true and original to the best of my knowledge.

Date__________

_________________

Pratik Kumar
 Acknowledgement
I, Pratik kumar, take extreme pleasure in expressing my profound gratitude towards my
Sociology teacher Dr. Parijat Pradhan (Assistant Professor, school of Sociological Studies) for
inspiring me and giving me the invaluable guidance and constant support throughout the course
of my project work. I have taken efforts in this kind of project. However, it would not have been
possible without the kind support of my teacher, friends, colleagues and many more individual
persons, writers, college staffs, librarians and other sources of e-resource. I would like to sincere
thanks to all of them.

I thank my parents for providing me everything whatever be required for the completion of this
project.

Finally, I would like to thanks all Kith & Kins who are a little bit part in helping me for
completing this project.
Research Methodology: This project is basically based on the doctrinal method of research
as no field work is done on this topic.

Aims & Objectives: The researcher aims to study about social exclusion.

Research Questions:

 What is social exclusion?

 How could disability be a reason of social exclusion?
 To what extent our society grown up to eradicate rupture of social bond
 What gaps in important indicators exist?

Sources of Data: This whole project is being created with the use of secondary source. The
following secondary sources of data have been used in the project:

 Books

 Websites

Mode of Citation: The researcher has followed a uniform mode of citation throughout the
course of this project paper.

Type of Study: For this topic, the researcher has opted for Descriptive and Explanatory type
of study as in this topic the researcher is providing the descriptions of the existing facts.

 Research Hypothesis: The assumption of the whole project topic is to find out
impact of social exclusion. What kind of problem is being faced by individuals when they
got excluded from the society on the different basis. Such as, on the basis of:
 Caste,
 gender,
 religion
 Disability.
Abstract:

As disability becomes an ever more salient concept in international political and legal
discourse, its social meaning must be better understood. Traditionally defined in medical terms
and as an individual problem, it has for the last several decades increasingly become a socio-
politically defined phenomenon. Disability pride has emerged as a social movement patterned
after ethnic minority and sexual orientation movements. The one billion people who count as
disabled nevertheless have illnesses and impairments that are largely understood as medical
problems. Medicine continues to exert great influence on the social meaning of disability in
general and the social valuation of various illnesses and impairments in particular. Whereas
specific conditions may be socially valued, the overall category and label of disability connotes
marginality and stigma. Under these conditions, disability policy, which ought to be a universal
concern, risks being construed as a marginal and special-interest issue rather than a broadly
relevant topic; this has potentially negative consequences for the majority of disabled people.
The concept of social exclusion emerged in the 1970s in response to massive economic
restructuring and efforts to avoid risks to social cohesion and stability. As the concept spread
internationally, with it came efforts to consider how such excluded groups (and the processes by
which they became excluded) could be better integrated (social inclusion) in normatively
accepted standards of social, economic, political and cultural activities. Efforts to theorize, model
and measure these processes of social exclusion/inclusion represent an awareness that a
meaningful life in any society, while embedded in economic and employment security, extends
to a larger set of social dimensions or domains; and that even the economic bedrock is more than
simply income poverty, whether considered in absolute or relative terms. A review of models,
indicators and measures for their theoretical and empirical robustness led to identification of nine
domains that capture processes of social exclusion/inclusion: employment and work, income and
economic resources, material resources, education and skills, health, housing, social resources,
community resources, and personal safety. Multiple indicators for each of these domains were
selected, based on frequency and robustness of use. Measures from existing Canadian data sets
were then identified, emphasizing those that could be disaggregated by level and other equity
stratifiers. Internet summary: Processes of social exclusion and social inclusion have gained
prominence in public policy discourse.
Introduction:
The culture, prejudices and environment have a great bearing on the meaning of such words, if
the word is meant to describe an aspect of human conditions. The words, handicapped‟,
„disabled‟, “retarded‟ have various meanings and carry the potential for prejudicial stereotypes,
discrimination and abuse. The most acceptable definition of disability is provided in UN
Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRP) which states that “persons with
disabilities include those who have long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory
impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective
participation in society on an equal basis with others.”
The major cause for disabilities is deficiencies in the management of the environment in which
we live. Though constitution of India guarantees equality of all citizens, persons with disabilities
have been, in reality, facing stigma, discrimination and neglect due to socio-psychological and
cultural reasons. The persons with Disabilities (Equal opportunities, protection of Rights and Full
participation) Act1995 and UNCRPD have legislated on making education, employment, access
to buildings, transport and information systems available to persons with disabilities.
There are nearly 2crore persons having disabilities in India includes persons with visual, hearing,
speech, loco motor, intellectual disabilities and multiple disabled. Disability not only affects
individual and family but also society and the nation. Non- inclusion of persons with disabilities
in the developmental process has several implications, as it may result in loss of income and
additional cost to the person with disability, for their care providers and other family. This results
in loss of education and social exclusion to them and their family.
Our constitution ensures equality, freedom, justice and dignity of all citizens of the country
including persons with disabilities without discrimination, which implies an inclusive society for
all. Article 14 of the constitution of India relating right to work, education and to public
assistance in certain cases, states that “the state shall within the limits of its economic capacity
and development, make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to
public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement and in other cases
of undeserved want.” “Disability” also appears in the 11th and 12th schedules (pertaining to
panchayats and municipalities) of the constitution in this manner. 11th schedule: “social welfare,
including welfare of the handicapped and mentally retarded”, and 12th schedule: “safeguarding
the interests of weaker sections of society, including the handicapped and mentally retarded.”
In this sector, there are four legislations namely, Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992,
persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full participation) Act,
1995; National Trust for the welfare of persons with Autism, Cerebral palsy. These three are
dealt in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Mental Retardation and Multiple
Disabilities Act, 1999 and Mental Health Act, 1997 is dealt in the Ministry of Health and Family
welfare.
For the empowerment of persons with disabilities, the Department of Disability Affairs has been
created in May 2012 under the ministry of social justice and empowerment to give greater
emphasis on their policy issues and implementation.

The National Policy for persons with Disabilities 2006 seeks to create an environment that
provides those equal opportunities, protection of their rights and full participation in society. The
policies are based on principles of equality, freedom, justice and dignity of all individuals that
are enshrined in the constitution.

Central Government schemes

1) Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS) - it envisages financial assistance to

NGOs for providing education, vocational training and rehabilitation of PWDs.
2) Scheme of Assistance to Disabled persons for Purchase/ Fitting of Aids/Appliances (ADIP
Scheme)-its provides various implementing agencies(NGOs/National
Institutes/DDRCs/ALIMCO/State Handicapped Development Corporations/other local bodies)
for purchase and assistance devices for the physical rehabilitation of PwDs.
3) Scheme for Implementation of Persons with Disabilities Act(SIPDA)- it provides to state
governments , organizations of central/ state governments, including autonomous bodies and
universities, for creating barrier free access to their buildings; making websites accessible, and
for early detection and diagnosis of hearing impaired.
4) Scheme of Incentive to Employers in the Private Sector for Providing Employment to Persons
with Disabilities provides employers.
5) National Scholarship schemes under National Fund as well as Trust Fund, provide financial
assistance to stu dents to pursue post-matriculation, professional or technical courses and various
skill development courses for their empowerment.
6) The scheme, Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship has been introduced to enable students with
disabilities to pursue M.Phil/PhD courses.

Government‘s policy on job reservation in Government sector:

1) 3 percent of the vacancies in case of direct recruitment in all groups posts shall be reserved for
PwDs of which 1 percent each shall be reserved for persons suffering from a) blindness or low
vision b) hearing impairment and c) locomotors disability or cerebral palsy in the posts identified
for each disability
2) 3 percent of vacancies in case of promotion to Group D, and Group C posts in which the
element of direct recruitment, if any, does not exceed 75%, shall be reserved for persons with
Disabilities of which 1 percent shall be reserved for persons suffering from a) blindness or low
vision b) hearing impairment, and c) loco motor disability or cerebral palsy in the posts identified
for each disability.
Cross-disability movement in India:
In 1993, with the creation of Disable Rights Group (DRG), India’s first cross-disability advocacy
organisation, that the idea of “all rights of all people with disabilities gained currency.”

Five Year Plans-

1) 10th Five Year Plan - It focused on effective implementation of various provisions of

legislation and National Policy for Persons with Disabilities.
2) 11th Five Year Plan- It aimed at inclusive growth. The plan mandated a firm approach to
main stream disability: 1) delineate clear-cut responsibilities between the concerned
Ministries/Departments; 2) concerned Ministries/Departments to formulate detailed rules and
guidelines within six months of approval of Eleventh plan; 3) ensure that each concerned
Ministry/Department shall reserve not less than 3 percent of their annual outlay for the benefit of
disabled persons as enjoined in the PWDs Act 1995; 4) Set up monitoring mechanisms at various
levels and develop a review system so that its progress can be monitored on a regular and
continuing basis.
3) 12th Five Year Plan- main strategy is service delivery and generation of public awareness
about disability rights.

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

CRPD is the first human rights treaty of 21st century. CRPD underlined the need to look at the
human rights of people with disabilities who comprise some of poorest and most vulnerable
section of society. It established disability as a cross cutting human rights issue. The Government
ratified the Convention on October 1, 2007. India became the 7th country in the world to ratify
CRPD.
There are four categories of developmental disability.
1) Autism- it is complex condition that appears during the first three years of life. It has been
classified as Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), it meant to indicate severe and
interrelated impairment in several areas of development.
2) Cerebral Palsy (CP)- it means damaging to maturing brain.
3) Mental Retardation (MR)- it is a delay, or slowness, in a child‟s mental development
4) Multiple Disabilities (MD)- it means combination of two or more disabilities defined in
clause (i) of section 2 of PWDs Act 1995. The disabilities defined there are – blindness, low
vision, leprosy – cured, hearing impairment, mental retardation, mental illness. The Ministry of
health through its flagship programme Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram is now setting up
massive operations for screening and early intervention.
Education- India has the second largest education system in the world, with more than 200
million school aged students. While national average of enrolment in schools is over 90 percent,
less than 5 percent of children with disabilities are enrolled in schools.

Initiatives and schemes of inclusive education:

1) The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan- it is programm of the Ministry of Human Resource
Development. It has set goal of providing 8years of elementary education for all children
including children with disabilities in the age group of 6-14 years.
2) Integrated Education for Disabled Children- children with disability in the age group of 4 – 14
years are provided free education. Although government is the primary stakeholder, a number of
NGOs and private institutions are playing major role in the promotion of inclusive education like
Amar Jyoti School in Delhi and Gwalior.

Primary goals of inclusive education:

a) To bring out best in the child without alienating him.
b) To assist child in developing basic skills to cope with day to day challenge.
c) To develop skills that will enable the child to become self reliant.
d) To help the child develop a desirable attitude towards society.

Portrayal of Disability in Literature and Cinema:

Our mythology and puranas also contain examples of differently-abled individuals like
Dhristrashtra, Manthara, Ashtaavakra etc. Films too have given space to representation of
disability in various artistic forms. Barfi, a film by Anurag Basu became the Official entry of
India for Oscars. Sanjeev Kumar was appreciated for playing the disabled in the legendary film
Sholay although we do know that his disability was incidental rather than being from birth. In the
film Koi Mil Gaya (2003) Hrithik Roshan played a mentally challenged whose mental age was
that of eight year child although his biological age was twenty years. The Oscar winning movie
The King’s Speech is classic example of a beautiful portrayal of disability. Tare Zameen Par
(2007) is a sensitive movie based on deep insight into the grim based realities of our day-to-day
life and many more movies dwelling upon disabilities.
Persons with Disabilities in India

The Census of India estimated 26.8 million persons with disabilities in the country in 2011 out of
the total population of 121 billion. They constituted 2.21 percent of the total population. the
types of disabilities and their frequencies in the country were as follows (punarbhavain

These statistical data is definitely an underestimate. A large number of persons with disabilities
are not properly enumerated by the persons retained for census enumeration. Social worker and
researcher, Professor T.K.Nair narrates his experience during the 2011 census enumeration.
During the two rounds of enumeration he repeatedly asked the enumerator whether he would
need the data on disability for which he mentioned that there was no provision in the census
forms. On further enquiry, he admitted that he was doing the work on behalf of the real
enumerator, a female relative.

Indian Society and Disability

Indian society has never been an inclusive society. The dominant, higher castes excluded the
lower castes; the rich always exploited the non-rich and the poor; the non-disabled always
marginalized the persons with disability. Hindu scriptures enjoin upon the followers to believe in
the Karma (deeds) of the previous births of the individuals or the parents. Other religions also
explain poverty, serious illness and disability with past sinful deeds in some form or the other.
Persons with disability are referred to by the disability and addressed contemptuously. Hindi and
languages with Sanskritic origin classify the persons with disability as “Vikalang” while other
regional languages use the variants of this distasteful categorization. While in English, there has
been progressive changes in referring to the persons with disability from “handicapped” to
physically or mentally challenged as well as to differently abled, the Indian regional languages
remain static indicating the perpetuation of the social prejudices towards disability. These
prejudices are also reflected in implementing measures for the mainstreaming of persons with
disability in the Indian society. Disability movement is of very recent origin in India starting
from the beginning of the 21st century. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi issued an order
after the1971 War against Pakistan reserving 3 percent in government jobs for persons with
disability. The positive gesture of the Prime Minister was sabotaged by the negative minded
bureaucracy which interpreted that only C and D categories of jobs would fall under this
reservation. According to this interpretation, persons with disability were eligible for the posts of
peons, attenders, sweepers, etc. What a perverted mind of the bureaucrats? There were
widespread protests against the abuse of the 3 percent reservation. Finally. The Persons with
Disabilities Act was passed in 1995. Though it was a weak legislation the Act was hailed as a
path breaking one. The Act specified that 3 percent reservation of jobs in all kinds of government
jobs and in educational institutions including professional colleges, IITs and IIMs would be
mandatory. Till that time not even one student with disability was admitted in any professional
college in the country. This was the initial phase of the disability movement in India from charity
to rights. Javed Abidi, who at that time was with the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, is one of the
architects of this shift in emphasis in the struggle for justice for persons with disability. The
“invisible minority” of the large number of persons with disability was never considered
important by the Census administration and it refused to include disability in the 2001 Census.
The disability activists took the protest to the streets. L.K.Advani, the then Home Minister,
intervened and for the first time disability was counted by the Census authority. However, there
is gross under-enumeration of persons with disability even in the 2011 Census.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, which became operative
from April 2011, provides constitutional right to all children in the 6 to 14 age group in a
neighbourhood school, suffers from half-hearted implementation and many loopholes for the
reluctant elite schools to evade the statutory provisions to admit children with disability and
children from poor economic background. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2014
superceded the 1995 Act and it is considered a landmark law. But the critics say that the Act was
sloppily drafted and was passed in a hurry keeping the 2014 elections in sight. One example is
the 3 percent reservation for persons with disability in jobs and in promotions including entry to
civil services. The government of India adopted a hyper-technical view and argued before the
Supreme Court that reservation in promotions would affect the prospects of the persons with
merit. The Supreme Court expressed its displeasure with this approach of the government and
ordered that reservations would be applicable in promotions also.

Recently, a political leader of great stature and a former Chief Minister of the state of Tamilnadu
for the longest period M. Karunanidhi refused to attend the Assembly proceedings as there was
no “disabled -friendly” facility for him, being bound to a wheel chair for the past few years. It is
an irony that as Chief Minister he piloted the policy for the differently abled in the state. The
present government led by the former opposition party ordered in February 2013 that all public
buildings should have a slew of access-friendly facilities ranging from ramps to handrails within
six months. But only about 1 percent of the public buildings in the capital city Chennai is
disabled -friendly and not a single public transportation (bus) in the city is access-friendly to
persons with disability. There is a huge gap between the promises of the central and state
governments, and the ground reality. Recently the government of India announced a massive
campaign “Sugamya Bharat” (Accessibility India) to sensitize people on accessibility issues
concerning persons with disability, besides creating awareness on improving facilities for them.
No doubt, it is a laudable initiative. But, like all other initiatives, will this also go the usual way?
“While the Rest of the world has taken great strides in mainstreaming the differently abled into
the larger contours of their society, life continues to be an uphill struggle for the differently abled
in India (Menon & Ferose, 2014). Will the differently abled continue to be overburdened with
the “handicapped” tag and live a life on the fringes, largely ignored by the Indian society and its
political masters and the bureaucratic bosses?
Conclusion
In almost all human socities, exclusion in some or the other form exists. Certain groups or
individuals are excluded from the mainstream society. They are deprived of some opportunities
which are needed for the full blossom of human life. As the concept spread internationally, with
it came efforts to consider how such excluded groups (and the processes by which they became
excluded) could be better integrated (social inclusion) in normatively accepted standards of
social, economic, political and cultural activities. Efforts to theorize, model and measure these
processes of social exclusion/inclusion represent an awareness that a meaningful life in any
society, while embedded in economic and employment security, extends to a larger set of social
dimensions or domains; and that even the economic bedrock is more than simply income
poverty, whether considered in absolute or relative terms. A review of models, indicators and
measures for their theoretical and empirical robustness led to identification of nine domains that
capture processes of social exclusion/inclusion: employment and work, income and economic
resources, material resources, education and skills, health, housing, social resources, community
resources, and personal safety. Multiple indicators for each of these domains were selected,
based on frequency and robustness of use. Measures from existing Canadian data sets were then
identified, emphasizing those that could be disaggregated by level and other equity stratifiers.
Social exclusion extends beyond poverty and deprivation concepts by incorporating a broader
understanding of social processes and their consequences (Bailey et al., 2004). Both poverty and
deprivation are components of social exclusion but, as former British PM Tony Blair
argued,social exclusion ‘is much more’. Berger-Schmitt and Noll (2000), for example, point out
that poverty can be both a cause and a consequence of social exclusion. But poverty is only one
possible cause or consequence. As with deprivation, one can be wealthy (not poor) and still
experience social exclusion, as has been the case with homosexuals in many of the world’s
countries (Estivill, 2003). Social exclusion, although sharing much in common with Townsend’s
concept of relative deprivation, differs in the emphasis it places on non-material aspects, from
‘prospects and networks’ (which work to reduce exclusion) to prejudice and discrimination
(which work to increase it) (Saunders & Wong, 2009).

Differential ability is the norm in all societies. Ability is a continuum and absolute ability is a
rarity. But due to false beliefs and prejudices, disability to perform the various personal functions
and activities independently has been looked down upon by the so-called “normal” persons, and
persons with disabilities (PWDs) are marginalized and socially excluded. The World Health
Organization (1996) defines disability as “any restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity
in a manner or within a range considered normal for a human being.” The UN Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), in Article 1, defines PWDs as “those who have long-
term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various
barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others”.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2014, defines a person with disability as a person
with long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment which hinders his/her full
and effective participation in society equally with others. Disability is defined to include 19
conditions. The Act defines barrier as any factor including communicational, cultural, economic,
environmental, institutional, political, social or structural factor which hampers the full and
effective participation of persons with disabilities in society, The Act also defines persons with
Benchmark Disability as persons with not less than 40 percent of a specified disability.
References

1. Levitas, R. (2006) ‘The concept and measurement of social exclusion’ in Pantazis, C.,
Gordon, D. and Levitas, R. Poverty and Social Exclusion in Britain, Bristol, Policy Press.
Levitas, R., Pantazis, C., Fahmy, E., Gordon, D., Lloyd, E. and Patsios, D.
(2007) The Multi-dimensional Analysis of Social Exclusion, London, Department for
Communities and Local Government (DCLG);
2. http://planningcommission.gov.in/reports/publications/rep_dce.pdf
3. Byrne, D. (2005). Social exclusion, Berkshire: Open University Press.
4. de Haan, A. (1999). Social exclusion: Towards an holistic understanding of deprivation.
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