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Disability, Economic Globalization and Privatization: A Case Study
of India
Vanmala Hiranandani
Associate Professor-cum-Deputy Director
Center for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive
Policies
SNDT Women's University
Mumbai, India
E-mail: [email protected]
Deepa Sonpal
Program Coordinator
UNNATI Organization for Development Education
Gujarat, India
E-mail: [email protected]
Keywords:
disability; privatization; India-economic reforms; international development
Abstract
People with disabilities are one of the most disenfranchised groups in India.
Standardized measurements of disability in India and internationally have overlooked
the linkages between the economy and disability. In recent decades, neo-liberal
economic reforms imposed in developing countries, under pressure from international
financial institutions, have downsized state role, privatized social goods, and
encouraged export-led strategies and market-based economics. India's economic
reforms, initiated in 1991, have led to rapid economic growth that is, however,increasingly mal-distributed.
This paper investigates the implications of economic restructuring in the arenas of
social programs, education, employment, accessibility, health, agriculture and food
security, and water and land acquisition from a disability perspective. Our analysis
shows that while increased employment opportunities and accessibility have
benefitted middle-class and highly-skilled disabled persons, the majority of people
with disabilities have been left out of India's economic affluence. We contend thatIndia's globalized economy and reduced state role necessitate renewed
understanding of human rights, including disability rights.
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Introduction
Recent estimates suggest 85-90% of the global population of persons with disabilities
resides in so-called developing countries. The United Nations estimated that more than 1.3
billion people live in abject poverty in the global South, 600 million of which are disabled
(Yeo, 2005). Thus, the majority of people with disabilities in the South are not only poor, but
they are among the poorest of the poor. In India, there are no clear estimates of the numberof persons with disabilities. Concerns persist that, given the stigma surrounding disability,
many individuals with severe impairments, mainly women and rural disabled, are excluded
from census and surveys (Jeffery & Singal, 2008).
Moreover, large-scale government studies as well as most small-scale research in India has
overlooked the impact of economic globalization in the form of changing roles of the state
and the market on the lives of people with disabilities. The hype about India's recent
economic growth obscures the lived realities of spiraling inequality, the declining welfarestate, and the growing misery of the poor. As the state withdraws from the service sector,
access to basic necessities such as education, health, employment, and food and water
security has become increasingly difficult for vulnerable populations (Bhaduri, 2008). Little
critical analysis of economic globalization and privatization exists from a disability rights
perspective.
Using India as a case study, this paper assesses privatization and the state's abdication of
responsibility for essential services and their implications for disability, specifically thepropagation of chronic illnesses and impairments. Some of the ramifications of globalization
and the privatization for human rights, including disability rights, are discussed, which
underscores the need to re-visit the notion of human rights given the growing power of non-
state actors in the globalized era.
Measuring Disability in India: Definition Dilemmas
Estimating the prevalence of disability in India has been hampered by complex andmultitudinous factors. Deep-seated social stigma results in the exclusion and invisibility of
individuals with disabilities. The lack of adequate definitions of disability further compounds
the task of accurately assessing the prevalence of disability. There are two government
sources of nationwide disability statistics in India: the Census and surveys of the National
Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). The 58th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS)
reported there were 18.5 million persons with disabilities in 2002 (NSSO, 2003) compared
with 21.9 million reported by the Census of 2001 (Registrar General of India, 2001). The
Census of 2001 did not adopt any particular definition of disability, rather it included afunctional limitation question that asks respondents about their type of functional limitation
(e.g., in seeing, hearing, movement). In contrast, the NSS considers a person as disabled if
s/he has restrictions or lacks the ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the
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range considered normal for a human being. The NSS thus defines disability as an activity
limitation.
Since the independence of India in 1947, a charity and medical model of disability has
informed policymaking under the aegis of the welfare state. To date, these models are
deeply embedded in the Indian society. Notwithstanding contemporary studies that have
addressed poverty and social stigma, until recently, socio-political responses were focusedmainly on medical intervention in the form of treatment and rehabilitation to cure the
'disease' or the 'problem' (Addlakha & Mandal, 2009). It was the ground-breaking Persons
with Disabilities - Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation (PWD) Act
of 1995 that recognized the multi-faceted nature of disability and provided for education,
employment, creation of a barrier-free environment, social security, etc. The Act articulated
seven major kinds of impairments: blindness, low vision, leprosy-cured, hearing
impairments, locomotor impairments, mental retardation and mental illness. Although the Act
is guided by the philosophy of empowerment by addressing social attitudes, it is still
premised on thresholds of physical and cognitive impairments defined largely in medical
terms. Thus, even though the discourse in India's disability rights movement has advanced
towards a social model, the policy environment remains "a hybrid between the medical and
social models of disability" (World Bank, 2007, p. 124).
Lately, the conceptualization of disability has drawn from the International Classification of
Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) (WHO, 2001). This framework, termed as the
biopsychosocial model of disability (World Bank, 2007), begins with a health condition that
gives rise to an impairment leading to activity limitations, consequently affecting the ability to
participate due to environmental, personal and institutional barriers. However, as Barile
(2003) mentions, ICF standards and their earlier versions (ICIDH-1, ICIDH-2) ignore the
historical and contemporary inequities between developing and developed countries and
disparities within each country. Standardized definitions and measurements have overlooked
the interactions between socio-cultural and economic factors in different regions that result in
varying levels of impairment and opportunities for disabled persons. Barile aptly notes that in
its attempt to attain a synthesis between different viewpoints of health from a medical,
individual and social perspective, the ICF neglects the crucial link between economics and
disability.
Economy and Disability
The linkages between disability and poverty have been increasingly recognized in
international development literature (Yeo, 2005). Poor people are much more likely to live in
unhealthy conditions without access to clean water or adequate nutrition. In times of illness,
poor people are less likely to be able to afford treatment, often leading to chronic conditions
or lifelong impairments. Conversely, impairment can lead to poverty and social exclusion by
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fostering financial dependency on handouts, the state and the extended family. Thus,
disabled people are more likely to be poor than their non-disabled counterparts, and people
living in poverty are more likely to become disabled than the non-poor. The relationship
between poverty and disability has been referred to as a vicious circle (Elwan, 1999; Yeo,
2005).
However, just as disability is not simply a matter of bodily variations but is caused by socialexclusion, poverty too is not merely a matter of inadequate incomes. According to the
Poverty Assessment Study Report (1995) (cited in Dube and Charowa, 2005, p. 9), poverty
is a symptom of structural inequities, social exclusion, powerlessness, and economic,
political and socio-cultural deprivation. Poverty results from having limited or no access to
basic services and is exacerbated by inadequate access to land, credit, technology and
resources for sustainable livelihoods. Thus, poverty is an inevitable consequence of the way
socio-economic systems are organized. However, hitherto most anti-poverty work has
viewed poverty as a lack of individual or household incomes. As Sen (2007) emphasizes, a
limited conception of poverty as lowness of personal income overlooks socio-political and
economic processes that perpetuate poverty. Any efforts to eliminate poverty would,
therefore, be unsuccessful if structural processes and socio-economic inequities are
unaddressed. Sen cites the example of Europe where poverty was reduced by state
provision of public health care, educational facilities, shared legal protections and other such
common resources.
Yet, in the last two decades, under pressure from international financial institutions (IFIs)
such as the World Bank and IMF, many countries in the global South have introduced
economic reforms characterized by opening domestic markets to global competition,
increasing transnational capital flows, and weakening the role of governments. These
economic policies aimed at accelerated global economic integration ('globalization') (Razavi,
2008) believe in the ideology of neo-liberalism that maintains state intervention is an
obstacle to economic growth because it creates inefficiency and market distortions.
Therefore, government expenditures should be reduced, allowing provision of services
through the private sector that is more efficient due to profit incentives (Gershman & Irwin,
2000). These principles have lead to privatization of health and social services, education,
transport and, increasingly, water and food provision in many parts of the world. Neo-
liberalism that underpins the current era of globalization has major implications for disabled
persons; however, disability definitions and discourse have paid insufficient attention to this
phenomenon. Given the virtual absence of literature on the impact of economic globalization
for persons with disabilities in India, the next section explores this topic in greater detail.
Economic Globalization, Privatization and Disability: A View from India
A mounting burden of debt and balance of payments crisis led India to adopt economic
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reforms on the lines of IMF-World Bank structural adjustment programs. These reforms,
known as the New Economic Policy (NEP), were introduced in July 1991. The NEP included
standard measures including the devaluation of the rupee (India's currency); privatization of
government-owned entities; reduction in public expenditure; cutbacks to food, agricultural
and fertilizer subsidies; increase in imports and foreign investment in capital-intensive and
high-tech industries; liberalization of trade regulations; and structural changes in the
economy aimed at export-led growth (Upadhyay, 2000).
The NEP has resulted in far-reaching effects on the economy and society. While reforms
have led to record economic growth, they have also led to unprecedented economic
inequalities, environmental degradation, rise in food prices, and unrest in several states that
has further hurt historically disadvantaged groups (Bidwai, 1995, 2000; Kumar, 2008).
Bidwai (2000) observes as reform policies pry open India's markets to attract multinational
telecommunications, information technology and automobile corporations, there is little
dispute that economic globalization has benefited India's 40 million middle-class and elite;
however, these policies have been ruthless to its 500- million-plus miserably poor.
Amidst these diverse forces impacting the lives of ordinary people in the country, the
situation of people with disabilities is particularly concerning given that their exclusion from
government census and surveys translates into denial of their citizenship rights and
entitlements to existing state programs for the poor and disabled. In this section, we assess
reform-induced changes in the arenas of social programs, education, employment,
accessibility, health, water, agriculture and food security, and land acquisition from a
disability perspective.
Social Programs:
The central government's allocation of funding to the states, which constitutes a major
resource to implement social programs in India, declined drastically in the post-reform
period. For instance, funding for poverty alleviation programs operated jointly by the
Center and states on 80:20 basis was drastically cut due to economic reforms(Teltumbde, 1996). Nevertheless, the range of social protection schemes that cover
people with disabilities, such as below poverty line (BPL) ration cards for government-
subsidized food grains and kerosene, social security pensions, scholarships, and
reservations in government jobs, provide some hope for the destitute, although they are
stingy and inadequate. Yet, as Mander's (2008) study reveals, access to these
programs remains riddled with bureaucratic challenges, corruption and delays with the
cumulative effect of denying benefits to those who need them most. Few disabled adults
actually receive disability pensions. Neither they nor their caregivers have adequateinformation about their entitlements or how to apply. In order to avail of disability
benefits, people with disabilities are required to undergo medical tests. Reports suggest
given the large number of applicants, thousands of young and elderly disabled face
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grueling ordeals lining up at hospitals from morning to evening for registration, tests and
the issuance of disability certificates (The Hindu, 2008). Moreover, in many states there
is a lack of focus on social protection for people with disabilities, as the low rates of
social pension coverage indicate (World Bank, 2007).
Budget cuts in the post-reform period have not only compounded already existing
bureaucratic challenges, they have also reduced government spending on disabilityprograms. Between 1998 and 2003, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
(MSJE), the nodal agency for promoting the welfare of disabled and other marginalized
groups, accounted for only between 5 to 7% of total government spending, signifying
the low priority placed by the government on core programs for people with disabilities
(World Bank, 2007). Although funding for inclusive education under the education
ministry has increased substantially in recent years, MSJE does not have consolidated
figures for spending on disability across ministries. As such, a comprehensive picture
about government spending on people with disabilities is lacking (World Bank, 2007).
Budget cuts for social programs of the MSJE, however, have adversely affected non-
governmental disability organizations that depended on government funding. NGOs
have been encouraged by the government to seek philanthropic contributions from
private wealthy donors and international aid organizations and by collecting fees from
few elite clients who can afford to pay for services rather than receiving their funding
from the central government (Erevelles, 2001).
Social protection in the form of social insurance interventions are not a reality for the
vast majority. Most disability insurance in India is provided publicly in the form of a
mandated benefit based on the retirement income scheme. However, disability
insurance schemes cover only workers in the formal sectors. Public social protection
system for people with disabilities outside of the formal sector is sketchy in most states
and offers low coverage and limited financial protection. Disability insurance that covers
employees in the private formal sector provides similar benefits; however, the private
insurance market in India is still at an early stage of development without much
experience in annuity products. In any case, public and private sector schemes together
cover only one in 10 workers in the country. Thus coverage is low and concentrated in
the top half of the income distribution, excluding most Indians with disabilities (World
Bank, 2007).
The latest National Policy for Persons with Disability 2006 signals a further withdrawal of
the state from its responsibility towards disability and a tendency to push that
responsibility on civil society and communities. Although the policy includes extending
rehabilitation services to rural areas, increasing employment opportunities, improving
access to public services etc, the section on 'Responsibility for Implementation' states:
The community should take a leading role in generating resources within
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themselves or through mobilization from private sector organizations to
maintain the infrastructure and also to meet running costs. This step will not
only reduce the burden on state resources but will also create a greater
sense of responsibility among the community and private entrepreneurs
(quoted in Bhas, 2006, para 22).
The attempt to absolve the state of its obligation towards disenfranchised persons byplacing the onus of generating resources on the private sector and the community
draws from a global neo-liberal trend that, as studies elsewhere have shown, has led to
disconcerting consequences for the poor and disabled (ex. see Hiranandani, 2002;
Johnson & Woll, 2003; Maskovsky, 2000; Waitzkin & Iriart, 2000).
Education:
The Persons with Disabilities Act of 1995 emphasized free education for disabled
children up to eighteen years of age, the development of teacher training programs
specializing in disabilities to provide trained manpower for special schools and
integrated schools for children with disabilities, equal access for disabled people to all
levels of education including higher and vocational education, and reservation of a
minimum of 3% in admissions to all levels of public educational institutions (Government
of India, 1996). Yet, after more than a decade of the PWD Act, few persons with
disabilities have access to education or training. Illiteracy is high across all categories of
disability, at 52% compared to 35% for the general population. Ninety percent of India'sdisabled children five times the general rate do not attend school, totaling around
40 million (Chatterjee, 2003 cited in Gabel & Chander, 2008). Disabled children rarely
progress beyond primary school, and only 9% have completed higher secondary
education (World Bank, 2007).
The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan(SSA), a program formulated under the Education for All
National Plan of Action, has a special section on inclusive education; however,
enrollment and retention rates remain poor. Similarly, only 2 to 3% of persons withdisabilities receive vocational training in low-profile stereotyped non-engineering areas
likely to deliver low income (Mishra &Gupta, 2006). While the poor utilization of these
interventions can be attributed to multiplicity of factors, including low awareness and
ritualistic implementation of programs with discrimination, privatization has not
advanced the cause of education for children and youth with disabilities. Spending on
inclusive education, although promoted under the SSA, is only 1% nationally (World
Bank, 2007).
In addition, the quality of public schools has suffered immensely due to reduced
government expenditure on education. In 2005, the government's Common Minimum
Program promised a gradual increase in the education budget to at least six percent of
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GDP. However, the education budget continues to remain at 3% of GDP (D'Costa,
2008; Das, 2009). Several states (eg. Karnataka) have education budgets that are
2.25% lower than the national average. Private investors have established educational
institutions ranging from kindergartens to universities offering more expensive education
for the middle class and elites, motivated mainly by profit (Bagal, 2005). These changes
have hardly benefited disabled students, as is evidenced by a survey of 89 schools by
the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP),
which found in 2004, more than a decade after liberalization and economic reforms, only
0.1% of disabled students were in mainstream educational institutions at the university
level and 0.51% at the primary and secondary level, a negligible figure compared to the
3% reservation enacted by the PWD Act (NCPEDP, 2004). The NCPEDP survey further
shows that 20% of the schools acknowledged they do not admit disabled students and
18% were not even aware of the PWD Act. Only 20 out of 55 schools that admit
disabled children employ special educators. Moreover, pedagogical methods continue
to be outmoded and rote-based, and the disempowering approach of the formal
education system considers the needs of children with disabilities to be largely a non-
issue (D'Costa, 2008).
Although the PWD Act encouraged equal access in higher education, NCPEDP's 2005
survey showed, out of the 119 universities that responded, 20% did not follow the 3%
reservation rule. Only 15% of the universities reported providing appropriate desks and
chairs for students with physical impairments. Only 16 universities provided assistive
software to students with visual impairments and only 10 universities provided books in
Braille and sign language interpreters (cited in Gabel & Chander, 2008).
The recent Right to Education (RTE) Act of 2009 promises free and compulsory
education to all children between 6 and 14 years and requires public and private
schools to reserve 25% seats for children from disadvantaged sections. However, the
Act excludes children below six years from their fundamental right to pre-primary
education - a shortcoming that was brought to the attention of the human resources
minister by disability rights groups (EPW, 2009). Moreover, the Act does not specifically
require disabled-friendly infrastructure in schools; rather, it uses the vague and
undefined phrase of 'barrier-free access.' The minister assured that the Act would be
amended later to include enabling provisions for disabled students and children under
age 6, but pleaded that it be passed in its current form to avoid losing time. In its current
form, the RTE Act covers only those impairments included under the PWD Act, with
promises for amendments to incorporate impairments covered by the National Trust for
the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple
Disabilities Act, 1999. However, as EPW (2009) aptly notes, the fact that this law, hailed
as 'historic' and 'revolutionary,' needed to be amended within a month of its passing and
did not give sufficient attention to children from one of the most marginalized sections of
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India, is indeed intriguing. Moreover, the RTE Act augments the pace of
commercialization in India's education sector by banishing the very idea of public-
funded common school system and promoting public-private partnerships, which will
ensure that India's poor continue to be relegated to sub-standard schools and excluded
further from an increasingly elite-centered formal education system.
Employment:
Privatization has led to mixed outcomes for people with disabilities in the employment
sphere. On one hand, technological advances have reduced their job opportunities. ILO
(2003) cites the example of jobs earlier available to visually-impaired people such as
telephone operator, stenographer and typist that have declined due to changes in
communication technology and introduction of computers. On the other hand,
privatization has opened newer avenues for employment of people with disabilities in
highly-skilled and service jobs, making them more mobile and competitive in the jobmarket (B. Punani, Executive Director, Blind People's Association, personal
communication, March 22, 2009). However, this is limited to those with access to higher
education and adequate training. Most training programs do not match the demand of
the service sector leaving most persons with disabilities unequipped to avail of highly-
paid jobs in this transitional phase of the Indian economy (ILO, 2003). Furthermore, the
vast population of the rural disabled is deprived of access to technology and jobs that
involve its application (Sridhar, 2003).
Overall, employment of people with disabilities fell from 42.7% in 1991 to 37.6% in 2002
despite strong economic growth (World Bank, 2007). Since most organized sector jobs
available to persons with disabilities were earlier available in government and public
sectors, globalization has constricted job opportunities due to disinvestments by the
government in the public sector (ILO, 2003). The PWD Act of 1995 provided for 3%
reservation in all government and public sector employment. Although the Act provides
incentives to private sector employers for promoting disabled persons' employment, the
3% reservation rule is not mandatory for private employers (Friedner, 2009; Mishra &
Gupta, 2006). More than fifteen years after the reforms, disabled people have about
60% percent lower employment rates than the general population, a gap that has been
increasing over the past fifteen years (World Bank, 2007). The World Bank report
mentions in the late 1990s, employment of people with disabilities in large private firms
was only 0.3% of the companies' workforce. In 1999, the National Centre for Promotion
of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) conducted a research study of the top
100 companies in India to examine employment practices in the corporate sector. Of the
796,363 total employees in 70 of the companies that responded, only 3,160 were
disabled persons comprising 0.4% of the workforce. The percentage of employees with
disabilities in public sector companies was 0.54, while in private companies only 0.28
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percent employees were disabled (Abidi, 1999). The percentage of employees with
disabilities in multinational corporations is only 0.05% (World Bank, 2007).
People with disabilities are often employed in the private sector under the rubric of
corporate social responsibility and such initiatives are highlighted by corporations in
their PR campaigns. Friedner's (2009) study cites the example of one data entry and
processing company in Bangalore that employs only disabled people since, according tothe company's chief operating officer, turnover of 'normal' people is persistent. Despite
consistently paying less than minimum wages to its disabled workers, this corporate
was awarded a leading disability and employment accolade in India and it prominently
displays its employment of people with disabilities on its website utilizing this initiative as
a unique selling point.
Accessibility:
Although the PWD Act promotes accessibility in public buildings, evidence shows
accessibility continues to be largely an unrealized goal in India (World Bank, 2007). No
budgetary provisions are in place to provide accessibility features in transport, road and
the built environment (Raturi, 2008). As such, ramps or lifts that accommodate
wheelchairs, signs in Braille, audio commands at traffic signals, accessible toilets etc
are rare. Due to resource constraints, courts often restrict the availability of state
assistance to a few categories of people with disabilities (Addlakha & Mandal, 2009).
Besides, as the PWD Act does not enforce accessibility in the private sector, mostmultinational and domestic businesses have ignored accessibility requirements in their
buildings.
Rural-urban disparities persist in the accessibility of transportation services. In rural
areas, people with stigmatized conditions, such as leprosy-cured, are not allowed to use
public transport even if they can afford it (Mander, 2008). Although, most buses and
trains continue to be inaccessible for people in wheelchairs (PACS, 2005), in urban
areas, privatization has had a positive impact in a way. For instance, Samarthyam, anorganization that advocates accessible environment and universal access for all, was
able to convince the New Delhi Municipal Council (NMDC) to make 197 new bus
shelters barrier-free and accessible. The contract for construction was given to the
multinational, J. C. Decaux, which is well-versed with accessibility requirements as
these are mandatory in Western countries. NDMC agreed to incorporate accessibility
features in these new bus shelters only if the bidders agreed to do so at no extra cost.
Advocacy with J. C. Decaux successfully led to the addition of universal design features
in the new bus shelters (A. Agarwal, Executive Director, Samarthyam National Centrefor Accessible Environment, personal communication, March 30, 2009). Likewise, the
Ministry of Railways has undertaken an initiative to upgrade accessibility in all 'A'
category stations in larger cities followed by category 'B' and 'C' stations in a phased
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manner (World Bank, 2007). However, as the World Bank Report indicates, provisions
of the PWD Act concentrate mainly on end-point access issues: consultations with
people with disabilities could go a long way to prioritize investments to promote access
and monitor access outcomes. Moreover, grievance redress procedures are weak and
penalties for non-compliance are non-existent. Orders from the Commissioner of
Persons with Disabilities are often not implemented unless the litigation reaches the
High Courts (Raturi, 2008). Addlakha & Mandal (2009) note that although the PWD Act
is rooted in a rights discourse, its application in concrete cases shows various
government agencies and departments are either unaware and/or refuse to implement
clauses of the disability act passed by the very same government. Checks and balances
as well as mechanisms to empower people with disabilities to undertake long and
complicated litigation processes are urgently needed to ensure that the law does not
"remain a paper tiger" (Addlakha & Mandal, 2009, p. 68).
Health And Health Care:
In the first decade of the reforms, state spending on health care as percentage of Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) fell from 1.3% in 1990 to 0.9% in 1999 (Gupta, 2005). During
1990-1999, with the introduction of user fees in public health care, the proportion of
people unable to access any health services has doubled, primarily among
disadvantaged castes, religious minorities and low-income people with disabilities.
Currently, only 2% of the national budget is spent on health care, compared to 13% on
defense (The Globe and Mail, 2009). Public health spending accounts for less than 20%
of the total health spending, while out of pocket expenses amount to 98% of the total
private health expenditure, signifying unequal access (Duggal, 2009). Duggal further
notes, ironically, the central government's attempt to increase spending on public health
by boosting allocations to its National Rural Health Mission has been unsuccessful
because states have responded by reducing their expenditures. Instead of
decentralizing health expenditures, the central government has taken greater control of
available health sector resources that have not been adequately utilized even for priority
programs such as immunization and rural child health, which in turn has affected health
outcomes.
Moreover, the National Health Policy of 2002 legitimizes the ongoing privatization of
health care. While domestic and foreign private insurance companies, health care
management organizations, and medical technology and pharmaceutical companies
have proliferated often with government support already poorly-funded public
health care that has traditionally cared for the poor has collapsed (Sengupta & Nundy,
2005).
Additionally, privatization and deregulation have resulted in rising drug prices. The
number of drugs under price control decreased from 347 in 1979 to only 35 in 2004,
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which is about 22% of the total market (Gupta, 2005). In 2005, under pressure from the
World Trade Organization's (WTO) Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs)
agreement, the Indian government changed its Model Patent Act of 1970, thereby
raising the cost and reducing the availability of essential drugs. The increased cost of
medical care is the second most common cause of rural indebtedness in India (People's
Health Movement - India, 2007). Given that almost 40% of India's population lives in
poverty, the health of the poor and disabled population is threatened.
Under the liberalization regime, India has become one of the world's leading exporters
of pharmaceuticals, with the U.S. its largest customer (Gupta, 2005). As European
countries and the U.S. protect their environment by importing drugs, populations in India
such as villagers in Patancheru in Medak district in Andhra Pradesh are forced to
consume a slew of toxic residues dumped in the local streams by numerous drug
factories (Mason, 2009). With the government's drive to industrialize 'backward' areas,
Medak district has seen a sharp rise in morbidity rates, from 10% in 1991 to 25% in
2004. Orthopedic and skin problems have escalated. Increased levels of heavy metals
have been detected in blood, urine, hair and nail samples of local people, due to
consumption of industrially contaminated water and vegetables grown in contaminated
soils (Greenpeace India, 2004). Although it is evident that ill-health is on the rise in
Medak, country-wide environment and health impact assessments to investigate the
relationships between rapid industrial growth, unchecked pollution, and chronic health
conditions and impairments have been lacking.
There is limited research on the use of health services by people with disabilities in India
(World Bank, 2007). The 58th National Sample Survey Organization's (NSSO)
conducted in 2002 shows that most states which lag in the provision of health care
services to the general population also fall behind in the use of those services by people
with disabilities. The exception is Delhi, which has adequate health services overall, but
where less than 50% of people with disabilities sought any treatment. Overall, around
16% of people with disabilities reported negative attitudes of providers as a reason for
not seeking treatment. While it can be contended that privatization has increased
access to assistive devices and rehabilitation technology for at least some sections
within the disabled population, data from 2002 NSSO shows less than 16% of people
with disabilities had actually acquired aids and appliances (NSSO, 2003).
Overall privatization has not improved the health of the majority. Indeed, death, ill-health
and impairment of the poor have become collateral damage in the cause of economic
growth and profit maximization (Baviskar, 2008). Baviskar reports that hundreds of
migrant adivasis1from Madhya Pradesh have died from acute silicosis (caused by
inhaling silica) while working in quartz crushing factories in Gujarat.
Furthermore, Western countries, particularly the US, Canada, Britain, Australia and
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Germany, are increasingly disposing their recycled and hazardous waste by shipping
them to the 'Third World', where they pose substantial threats to human health and
environment (Pucket et al, 2002; Stebbins, 1992). To liberalize the economy, the Indian
government abolished regulatory licensing in most industry groups. Consequently, India
has quickly become a major dumping ground for the West's hazardous waste.
Greenpeace reports that India imported 5 million kilograms of metal waste, 346,000
kilograms of used lead-acid batteries and 2.85 million kilograms of metal scrap from
Australia in the first half of 1994 (cited in Bidwai, 1995). Although World Bank's (2007)
report states "[t]he medical causes of impairments are rapidly changing in India - from
communicable disease to non-communicable disease and accidents" (p. xii), the report
is silent on health conditions and impairments induced by the processes of economic
globalization, liberalization and privatization.
Food Security, Globalized Agriculture And The Rural Sector:
Although 80% of India's disabled persons live in rural areas, most government and NGO
programs and rehabilitation centers are located in urban areas (D'Costa, 2008; Klasing,
2007). World Bank's (2007) study shows that the rural disabled have lower access to
health care, not only due to the poorly functioning current system of disability
identification and certification, but also because of poor awareness about disability
issues among providers, as well as community and provider attitudes that act as
constraints in the provision of health care for people with disabilities. Government
schemes for the disabled, whether in education or employment, rarely reach rural
people. Ninety percent of India's children with disabilities reside in rural areas where
even non-disabled children find access to education difficult. The lack of services, such
as accessible transportation, and the distance between home and school in rural areas
further push children with disabilities to the margins (D'Costa, 2008; World Bank, 2007).
People with disabilities in rural areas are largely excluded from mainstream poverty
alleviation programs due to attitudinal and physical barriers. The PWD Act requires
governments to reserve not less than 3% in all poverty alleviation programs for people
with disabilities. However, different poverty alleviation programs have interpreted the 3%
reservation rule differently. As World Bank (2007) noted, the Sampoorna Grameen
Rojgar Yojana(SGRY) (The Complete Rural Employment Scheme) mentioned parents
of children with disabilities (CWD) rather than adult workers with disabilities, assuming
that disabled people are unable to work. Yet, there is no specific quota mentioned for
parents of CWD, unlike other groups such as women and other minority groups. The
Indira Avaz Yojana (subsidized housing program named after the late prime minister
Mrs. Indira Gandhi) mentions people with disabilities as a priority category among other
groups; however, no specific quantitative targets are mentioned. In contrast,
the Swaranjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana(SGSY) (The Centennial Rural Self-
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Employment Scheme) provides specific guidelines and requires that 3% of beneficiaries
annually must be people with disabilities. However, the World Bank (2007) observes
that data reported by various poverty alleviation programs do not clarify the share of
beneficiaries who are persons with disabilities. Wherever clear data is available, people
with disabilities are well below the 3% reservation rule in all schemes. For instance, the
share of disabled beneficiaries in SGSY was below 1% between 1999 and 2004. In
SGRY, a much bigger program in total spending than SGSY, data are reported for
works completed for the benefit of disabled people rather than the number of days of
employment generated for people with disabilities. However, the Comptroller and
Auditor General Report (2004) shows the share of disabled beneficiaries in SGRY was
below 1.7% during the reporting period 1998-2003 (cited in World Bank, 2007). More
recent data from various states compiled by the World Bank report demonstrates even
lower percentages. For instance, in the state of Orissa, people with disabilities
accounted for only 0.3% of total employment days generated under SGRY during 2001-
2005.
The new National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) of 2005 in principle
provides every person who is willing to work with a statutory right to 100 days of
guaranteed wage labor at minimum wages. However, Dalal (forthcoming) reports
disabled people constituted only 0.1% (167,934 persons) of the 16 million total NREGA
beneficiaries in January 2007. Furthermore, NREGA recently deleted provisions for
reservations for disabled people (World Bank, 2007).
Roughly 700 million (70%) of India's 1 billion people depend on the agricultural sector
for their livelihoods (Coleman, 2003). International rules that encompass agricultural
trade liberalization and the use of genetically engineered seeds have transformed
agricultural practices and rural livelihoods everywhere. Recent free trade and seed
patenting policies, such as the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and the Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) instituted by the World Trade
Organization (WTO), have required developing countries, such as India, to open their
agricultural sector to global agribusinesses and to replace traditional farm-saved seeds
with genetically engineered seeds (which are non-renewable and thus require re-
purchasing for each growing season). The bulk of empirical evidence suggests that
trade liberalization has led to unprecedented crisis in the agrarian sector as small-scale
farmers are unable to compete in international markets (see Hiranandani, 2008).
Declining rural credit, rising farm input prices and decreasing prices for agricultural
produce have forced small-scale and subsistence farmers, including disabled farmers,
off the land. India, home to 557 million subsistence farmers, has experienced an
epidemic of farmer suicides since 1997 (Sainath, 2007). FAO (2004) notes that disabled
farmers with inadequate access to means of production such as land, water, inputs and
improved seeds, appropriate technologies and farm credit are particularly hard-hit.
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Given the decline of the rural economy, nearly 40% of rural households have no land of
their own and it is estimated that the rural unemployment is as high as 30% (Dalal,
forthcoming).
For India's 380 million officially-recognized poor, neo-liberalism has meant spending
more money to buy less food, reducing calorie intake and facing starvation in many
cases (Patnaik, 2004). Cereal consumption declined by 12% in rural India after adecade of reforms initiated in 1991 (Shiva, 2001). Economic reforms have slashed
government spending for the public distribution system (PDS) that provides basic
necessities such as food grains and pulses to the poor at subsidized rates. Prices of
food items offered by the PDS have increased manifold. Unsurprisingly, the National
Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) of 2005-06 reported that almost half of the children
under age five are too short for their age, 20% are too thin for their height and 43% are
under weight due to chronic malnutrition (IIPS & Macro International, 2007). While
malnutrition has been recognized as a major cause of preventable impairments in India
(World Bank, 2007), the association between agricultural trade liberalization, rising
hunger and malnutrition-induced impairments in the post-reform period have been
ignored.
Water:
There is increased pressure by international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the
World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to export natural resources critical to thelives of local communities. IFIs claim that these exports are essential in order to
generate revenues to repay outstanding external debt and to finance future
development programs (Asia Pacific Civil Society Forum, 2003). The World Bank-driven
policies espouse a shift from social goods to a commercial orientation. While the gift of
free water to the thirsty has been a core part of India's culture, privatization policies
have commodified water. Water fees have doubled, thereby diverting water from the
poor to the rich and from rural to urban areas. In Delhi alone, tariff increases have
generated Rupees (Rs.) 30 billion, generating super profits of Rs. 26.66 billion to
corporations (Shiva, 2005). While water parks abound for rich tourists, privatization of
water has created undue hardships for the poor and disabled. Even homes for people
with disabilities and orphanages have not been spared of spiraling tariff increases.
Besides, local agriculture has borne the brunt of water privatization. In Plachimada in
Kerala, Coca-Cola extracted 1.5 million liters of deep well-water, bottling and selling
them for profit. Depleting ground water levels have affected thousands of communities
creating water shortages and destroying agricultural livelihoods. The poor, includingdisabled people, have to travel farther to fetch water. The remaining ground water has
become contaminated with high chloride and bacteria levels, leading to scabies, eye
problems and gastro-intestinal diseases. The company also sells the plants' industrial
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waste to farmers as fertilizers, despite high levels of hazardous waste and cadmium
(Global Exchange, 2005). Yet, comprehensive assessments of water privatization for
disease, impairment and environmental degradation have been lacking.
Land Acquisition For Special Economic Zones:
To pursue the export-led growth strategy under the liberalization regime, India adoptedthe idea of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to provide government-financed
infrastructure to developers (Skeers, 2006). A Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is a
geographical region with favorable economic laws more liberal than a country's typical
regulations. The goal of SEZs is to promote rapid industrialization and economic growth
by using tax and business incentives to attract foreign investment and technology. The
Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act 2005, passed with little parliamentary or public
debate, facilitated the forceful acquisition of land with meager compensation thereby
provoking determined protests by thousands of displaced farmers (Skeers, 2006). Primeagricultural land has been acquired in several areas with serious implications for food
security and aggravating regional disparities. Following the brutal manner of state-
sponsored land acquisition efforts in Nandigram in West Bengal that left 11 people dead
and hundreds injured, a National Policy on Rehabilitation and Resettlement was
adopted in 2007 (Kazi, 2007). This policy provides for land-for-land compensation and
life-time monthly pensions to vulnerable persons, such as the disabled, destitute,
orphans, widows, unmarried girls, abandoned women, and elderly persons without
alternative livelihoods.
However, anecdotal evidence suggests that promises of resettlement and rehabilitation
have not materialized. For instance, many acres of coastal land in Vishakhapatnam in
Andhra Pradesh have been acquired for the SEZ program and the Indian Navy, thereby
displacing thousands of people. Persons with disabilities in particular have been
adversely affected. Not only have they received less compensation than the non-
disabled, their houses are re-located further away in remote areas creating accessibility
problems (M. Chandrasekar, Advocacy Coordinator, Community-Based Rehabilitation
Forum, personal communication, March 22, 2009). People with disabilities have been
left out of vocational training programs set up by the state government in SEZs.
Although NGOs in these areas have been appeased by promises of employing trained
persons with disabilities in textile industries of the SEZ, there are no job reservations for
them in these private sector industries (Mishra & Gupta, 2006; World Bank, 2007).
Recently, Gitanjali Gems, a Mumbai based diamond and jewellery maker established
the 'Saksham' training centre in the Rajiv Gems Special Economic Zone in Hyderabad
in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The training centre aims to empower people with
disabilities and is expected to generate 1000 jobs for them within the next three years
(Business Standard, 2010). While such initiatives are welcome, it remains to be seen
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whether the precedent set by Gitanjali Gems will be followed by other private companies
in India's SEZs.
Moreover, as Murayama & Yokota's (2009) review of labor and gender issues in SEZs
in Bangladesh, India and South Korea observes, workers in Indian SEZs are in a
disadvantaged position not only against capital but also in comparison to their
Bangladeshi and South Korean counterparts. Although wages and working conditions inIndian SEZs vary, Mazumdar's (2001) study showed 80% of workers in Noida SEZ in
North India receive less than the minimum wage (cited in Murayama & Yokota, 2009).
Young women who form the bulk of SEZ workforce receive wages well below the
minimum wage (PRIA, 1999) and working conditions are similar to those prevailing in
the urban informal economy (Neetha & Varma, 2004). Widespread malpractices are
common, including unrecorded workers on company payrolls, lack of health insurance
or workers' provident funds, and denial of leave stipulated by law. While studies have
documented working conditions and employment practices for women workers in SEZs,
systematic data on employment trends and working conditions of people with disabilities
in SEZs is lacking.
Human Rights, Privatization and Disability
Disability rights have been increasingly addressed in the international development
discourse since the 1980s. The International Year of Disabled Persons in 1981, followed by
the United Nations Decade for Disabled Persons declared by the United Nations in 1983, put
disability into a global context (Yeo, 2005). However, the basic assumption that underpins all
United Nations human rights agreements, including disability rights, is governments'
responsibility to attain these rights. The underlying premise of globalization, however, is the
abdication of government responsibility for essential services (Naim-Ahmed, 2007). This
paradox complicates progress towards human rights declarations in an era of unfettered
global market economy since international human rights obligations apply to government
organizations and not to the private sector. Privatization has reduced the power of
governments to ensure access to services that are essential to the enjoyment of human
rights (Amnesty International, 2005).
Disability is an arena that is particularly susceptible to the shifting boundaries between the
public and private domains. The consequences of dismantling the welfare state are severe,
especially for poor and disabled people in developing countries who depend on state
provision of basic needs such as education, health care etc. With disability still treated as a
'special interest' issue in India that is, not of interest to the general population - the risks of
privatization are high. Fortunately, India has a large, varied and active movement of NGOs
working on disability issues, though many still have a welfare-led approach and are mainly
urban-based (Thomas, 2004). However, in the era of privatization and liberalization, large
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companies, seeking to create reputations of 'corporate social responsibility,' have initiated in-
house NGOs, especially as the state dismantles its public provision of basic services
(People's Health Movement - India, 2007). The implication of this civil society transformation
for disabled people is yet ambiguous. It is clear, nonetheless, that one of the most salient
elements in the globalization process, the explosion of information and communication
technology such as the Internet, has enabled people with disabilities from different regions
and countries to communicate and access information quickly and across great distances.
Albeit of benefit to urban-based populations, this has fostered increased dialogue between
disabled persons across the globe and facilitated the formation of extensive support and
advocacy networks.
However, people with disabilities in India still remain a weak political constituency without full
citizenship rights. Although political party workers conduct house-to-house surveys to
register voters, homelessness especially among the urban destitute and disabled combined
with social stigma and family shame perpetuates the invisibility and isolation of many
persons with disabilities and their consequent absence from lists of voters (Jeffery & Singal,
2008; UNNATI & Handicap International, 2004; World Bank, 2007). Even when disabled
people are registered, inaccessible pooling booths, inadequate transport facilities and lack of
information in accessible formats hinder their ability to vote. Thus, persons with disabilities
are politically disenfranchised. This is despite the fact that in addition to ratifying international
human rights instruments, India has one of the strongest rights-based constitutions in the
world that holds the government primarily responsible for the well-being of historically
disadvantaged populations (Thomas, 2004).
The failure of the rights-based legislation to promote full inclusion and increase disabled
people's employment rates exposes the contradictions of promoting equal opportunity within
the paradigm of economic growth in an unequal society (Russell, 2002). Economic reforms
have led to increasing mal-distribution of growth. While currently India has the world's fourth
highest number of billionaires (36 billionaires) with total wealth equaling one-fourth of the
country's GDP, poverty reduction has been the slowest in the neo-liberal years; in fact,
poverty and destitution has been aggravated by reform-induced dispossession and
displacement (Bidwai, 2007).
Neo-liberal globalization, with its emphasis on privatization of services, threatens universal
access to basic services. Privatization has re-defined education and agriculture as 'industry'
and has commodified basic necessities such as health care, education, food and water
(Shiva, 2005). Free trade agreements have jeopardized the health and human rights of the
majority and undermined social policies aimed at promoting employment and full inclusion
for people with disabilities (PSAC, 2005). Privatization and the globalized economy thus
compel the re-envisioning of the concept of human rights to ensure that state andnon-state
actors, such as corporations, are held accountable to human rights agreements. Hitherto,
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civil rights and disability rights, conceptualized in an individualist framework, do not address
structural barriers and health abuses caused by business practices, the economic system
and class power relationships (see Russell, 2002). Human rights for persons with disabilities
across all sections of the society cannot be achieved until the very system that lavishes
wealth on a few and impoverishes the masses is brought under scrutiny.
Concluding Remarks
People with disabilities have been excluded from most evaluations of economic reforms in
India. Our analysis shows that while increasing employment opportunities and accessibility
has benefitted a few persons with disabilities, the majority, particularly the poor and rural
disabled, have been left out of India's economic boom. It is questionable whether unbridled
market reforms are sustainable given their human and environmental costs. Furthermore,
the implications of the current economic downturn for India's urban and rural disabled
populations are yet unknown.
Due to constraints of space, this analysis has included class differences and urban-rural
disparities within the disabled population, where data permit. However, given India's
enormous diversity, intersectionality based on gender, caste, religion, age and marital/family
status differences among people with disabilities merit further investigation to provide a more
comprehensive picture of reform-induced changes.
The importance of including people with disabilities in the development agenda has beenincreasingly recognized. The former president of World Bank, James Wolfensohn stated "
if we are to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving poverty by 2015,
dealing with education for all, halving the rates of birth and child mortality, it is simply
impossible to conceive of doing that without the inclusion of the disabled community" (quoted
in Yeo, 2005, p. 13). Yet, the Bank's well-intentioned efforts towards full inclusion do not
address the health, impairment and disability effects of global economic processes. Neo-
liberalism, with its tenets of market economy and reduced state role, necessitates renewed
understanding of human rights, including those of disabled persons. It is difficult to imagine
how the MDGs will be achieved unless poverty and disability, and indeed impairment itself,
are recognized as manifestation of the ways in which society and economy are organized.