A Society for All: Disability from Economic Viewpoint

The right of the disabled persons to equal access to socio-economic areas e.g. employment, education, health etc have not been properly reflected in the policy and legislation of the country. Justifiable expectations of equal access for them are still wishful thinking. As a result, it is not only the person, but the family as a whole is disabled socially and economically. No expert on disability is in the policy making level. Yet none of the political parties have their specific plans and policies in bringing persons with disabilities in the mainstream of the development.

By Kamal Lamichhane

Historically, persons with disabilities were considered as an object of pity and sympathy and offered services couple of centuries ago. Those services were basically based on sympathy and some form of charity. Slowly charity based activities on disability started changing into right based and several social movements seeking better quality of life based on the principle of equal opportunities grew up in the civil rights era of 1960 and 70s. One of them is ‘independent living movement’ of 1970s which played crucial role in raising awareness on the issues of this group. Then, the viewpoint on disability because of the strong advocacy of disability rights advocates, started changing and social model considering disability as an interaction between characteristics of an individual and features of his or her cultural, social, natural, and built environments brought momentum on disability movement, which has been further supported and institutionalised by United Nations convention on the rights of persons with disabilities as it has on its preamble stated that impairment “is a natural part of the human experience and that “disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others”. It can be argued that the introduction of this social model that is clearly against with the previously established medical model’s negative view which regards a person with a disability as someone who cannot function because of impairment, is instrumental to consider disability in line with making them socially and economically active members of the society.

As a result, persons with disabilities who were subjected only as a receiver of services and considered to be the object of pity and sympathy started participating in the socio-economic activities. Like others, persons with disabilities deserve a dignified and productive life, but this can not be achieved unless policies are formulated and implemented in line with addressing their issues from economic point of view. If they are made economically active, it will provide them financial independence and integration into the community. It also improves social status, provides social support, enables them to make a contribution, and increases self-worth.

Against this background, in Nepal, despite some efforts, activities conducted and programmes implemented for the uplifting and equal participation of these persons in social and economic areas are rare, reaching only a small segment of the large gamut. Thus, the situation is that people with disabilities are invisible in socio-economic activities. In a World Bank report, it is stated that persons with disabilities and their families are living below the poverty line in the developing world in many cases, in comparison to non-disabled people and their families. Same assumptions can be made in the case of Nepal but due to the dearth of the statistics such assumptions are often dubious. Their rights of equal access to socio-economic areas e.g. employment, education, health etc have not been properly reflected in the policy and legislation of the country. Justifiable expectations of equal access for them are still wishful thinking. As a result, it is not only the person, but the family as a whole is disabled socially and economically. No expert on disability is in the policy making level. Yet none of the political parties have their specific plans and policies in bringing persons with disabilities in the mainstream of the development. It is the bitter fact that in the constitution making process, they are forgotten. The issues of education, health and employment of them remain still unheard. Consequently, the commitment of the parties to build “New Nepal” without addressing the needs of this group has once again under the clouds of uncertainty.

Education, health and employment which are considered some of the important socio-economic indicators if made of inclusive and accessible of such people, not only their livelihood will be improved but also eventually the prospects of their poor families, and of the society and country as a whole. It is therefore essential that persons with disabilities be included in new constitution making process in order to achieve truly a “New Nepal”.

In this sense, it is necessary to tackle the disability issues as the important social, economical and political agenda in order to create a more comfortable society for all of us to live in. Disability issues are without doubt a primary topic for human existence. In disability, economic perspective is being ignored even today. Now, it is the time for disabled advocates, experts and civil society as well as policy makers to utilise the framework and knowledge of modern economics, especially in the fields such as income security, anti-discrimination and disability employment policies. Only then the problems of persons with disabilities such as discriminations, social inequalities and human rights abuse can be solved and our aim of creating “a society for all” and "Building new Nepal” can be achieved and every one in the community can share same values and live the life with dignity.

(Lamichhane, himself a visually impaired person, is researching on socio-economic status of persons with disabilities and is a Ph. D. candidate at the University of Tokyo, Japan. E-mail: kamal@bfp.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp)

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