pension to disabled persons

all of us know well that how much our govt. is spending on education, defence and MNREGA like projects. But did you imagine that how much our govt. has fixed to provide the disability pension?
the answer is very shocking- only 200 Rs./month. And that too because of the great efforts!!!
plz. read this article, taken from the famous newspaper HINDU---PUBLISHED 2 YEARS AGO
                                                    Bihar eases disability pension norm
Patna, March 24: The Bihar Government today said it had relaxed the parameters set by the Centre and decided to make available Rs 200 a month as pension to those even with 40 per cent disabilities.
Replying to a question in the State Legislative Council, the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr S. K. Modi, said the Centre was providing pension to people with 60 per cent or more disabilities within a stipulated life period.
“We have relaxed the parameters in Bihar where people with 40 per cent or more disabilities are being granted a monthly pension of Rs 200,” Mr Modi said.
To a supplementary, Mr Modi said no proposal was being considered by the State government at the stage to hike the pension amount
have you read? our govt. is not ready to incease the disability pension because they consider it sufficient.. Now it is an interesting but ironical question that a disabled person, who is unable to earn money due to his handicap, how will he survive in Rs. 200/ month i.e. 06 rupees/ day?

what questions our govt. wants to answer

here i am publishing some questions and their answers by the govt.. I have taken this from the website of ministry of social justice and empowerment, http://www.socialjustice.nic.in.
plz.have a look on questions and anwers and try to find the answer- are these answers are sufficient to solve the questions of a common poorly literated disabled man?


Whether the Govt. of has setup Institutes to empower various categories of persons with disabilities?
Ans. National Institutes/Apex Level Institutions
In consonance with the policy of empowerment of persons with disabilities and in order to effectively deal with their multi dimensional problems, the following National Institutes/Apex level institutions have been setup in each major area of disability:-
i.National Institute for the Visually Handicapped, Dehradun
ii.National Institute for the Orthopaedically Handicapped, Calcutta.
iii.Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped, Mumbai
iv.National Institute for Mentally Handicapped, Secunderabad.
v.National Institute for Rehabilitation Training and Research, Cuttack.
vi.Institute for the Physically Handicapped, New Delhi.
vii.National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD), Chennai

What are the main functions of these Institutes?
Ans. Main Functions: To develop manpower for delivery of services to the disabled persons, the Institutes run various specialized courses to train professionals in the different areas of disability like Degree courses in Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Prosthetic and Orthotic Engineering, Bachelors Degree Courses in Mental Retardation, Diploma in Special Education (Mental Retardation), Diploma in Vocational Training and Employment (Mental Retardation), Bachelor and Master in Education (Hearing Impaired), Bachelors and Masters Degree in Hearing, Language and Speech Bachelors and Masters Degree in Audiology and Speech Rehabilitation, Primary and Secondary level Teachers Training Programme for Visually Handicapped and Training Course for Orientation and Mobility Instructors for Visually Handicapped, etc.

Whether the Government have set up Regional Centres in the country to provide composite services for different kinds of disabilities.
Ans. The Government have set up 5 Composite Regional Centres for persons with disabilities in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Assam and Jammu & Kashmir to provide composite rehabilitation services to the disabled and conduct training programmes to generate professionals in this field. The centres also promote research & generate awareness.

What efforts are being made by Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), Kanpur to meet the grooving needs of the physically handicapped population of the Country?
Ans. In its endeavour to meet the growing needs of the persons with disabilities of country, ALIMCO has set up auxiliary production centres at Bhubaneshwar, Jabalpur and Bangalore to augment its manufacturing capacity of wheel chairs and tricycles.

Whether the Govt. has setup any centre for the Spinal Injured?
Ans. The Indian Spinal Injury Centre (ISIC) has been set up, in the spirit of public private partnership, to provide comprehensive treatment, rehabilitation services and vocational training and guidance to patients with spinal injury. It is the first centre of its kind in Asia. The centre also conducts research in multidimensional aspects of rehabilitation of such patients. The machinery and technical expertise were made available to the Centre under Indo-Italian cooperation. Further support to ISIC is provided for capital expenditure.

Whether there is any provision to safeguard rights and facilities made available to persons with disabilities?
Ans. The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation Act, 1995 safe-guards rights and facilities made available to persons with disabilities and also looks into complaints with respect to deprivation of rights of persons with disabilities.
The Implementation of provisions of the Act require a multi-sectoral collaborative approach of all concerned Ministries of the Central Government, the State Government and the Union Territories and other appropriate authorities. While in the area of prevention, early detection and intervention, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Department of Women & Child Development have to play a major role, in the area of education, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has to initiate programmes such as transport facility, financial incentives, etc. to promote education among the children with disabilities. For the creation of barrier free environment, the Ministries of Urban Area and Employment, Surface Transport, Railways and Civil Aviation have to take steps. In the area of employment and training, Ministry of Labour has an important role.
The Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, set up under Section 57 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights & Full Participation) Act, 1995, has been mandated to take steps to safeguard the rights and facilities to the persons with disabilities.

What is the objective of Science and Technology Mission Mode?
Ans. The objective of S&T Mission Mode is to coordinate, fund and direct application of technology in development and utilisation of -
1.Suitable and cost effective aids and appliances
2.Methods of education and skill development leading to enhancement of opportunities for :
a.Employment
b.Easier living and mobility
c.Communication
d.Recreation and
e.Integration in society

What are the areas where the proposed development may be undertaken?
Ans. The Mission Mode covers all the areas of disability viz. speech & hearing, visual, mentally, orthopaedoically handicapped (includes cerebral palsy, leprosy, spastic). It supports all aspects of rehabilitation - development of new assistive devices, enhancement of new employment opportunities, educational skills and recreation of persons with disabilities.

What is the extent of funding?
Ans. Funding to the extent of 100% is provided for the research proposals.

Eligilibility of application for submitting the proposal.
Ans. The proposal may be submitted in the prescribed proforma by scientists, engineers, researchers of academic and research institutions, public sector undertakings, industries, non-govermental organisations etc. having basic and essential facilities to carry out the research work.

What are documents required alongwith the research proposal?
Ans. The proposal may be forwarded through the head of the depertment/organisation /institution accompanying the following papers -
Endorsement from the head of the agency/organisation/institution on the letter head - 1 copy
Certificate from the Investigator - 1 copy
Detailed proposal as per the proforma - 30 copies
Name and address of experts/institutions in the subject of the project (circulation list) - 2 copies

Whom to contact and the address for obtaining the guidelines for submitting new research proposals?
Ans. The researchers may address their request to the following -
The Director (DDIII),
Room No. 253A, Shastri Bhawan,
New Delhi - 110 0001 (India)
Phone: 91-11-23387690

What are the guiding Principles of the UN Convention on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities?
Ans. There are eight guiding principles that underlie the Convention and each one of its specific articles:
a.Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one's own choices, and independence of persons
b.Non-discrimination
c.Full and effective participation and inclusion in society
d.Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity
e.Equality of opportunity
f.Accessibility
g.Equality between men and women
h.Respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for the right of children with disabilities to preserve their identities

Whether India has signed and ratified the UN Convention?
Ans. India signed the UN Convention on 30th March, 2007, the day it opened for signatures. Ratification of the UN Convention by India is under active consideration of the Government.

What are the criteria fixed for releasing the Grant-in-Aid assistance to NGOs under the Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme?
Ans. Organisations registered under the Societies Registration Act, public trusts and charitable companies licensed under the Companies Act, that have been registered for a minimum period of 2 years, can be provided grants-in-aid under the Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme. The Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme contains model projects and detailed norms, on the basis of which such organisations can design their projects and apply for grants-in-aid under this scheme.
Proposals for grant-in-aid are required to be sent in the prescribed application form, along with project details, Annual Reports and other documents such as audited accounts, utilization certificate for the previous year (in the case of continuing grants), etc. Grants-in-aid are sanctioned by the Ministry, keeping in view recommendations (based on inspection) given by the State Governments/UT Administrations/State Commissioners/National Institutions/other organisations designated by the Ministry.
Recommended proposals are considered by the Ministry on the basis of the model projects and detailed norms laid down in the scheme and the past performance of the organisation. Grant-in-aid can be provided to a maximum of 90% of the admissible grant as per the norms, while 10% is expected to be borne by the organization.
From 2007-08, grants to organisations that have already been funded for 7 years will be tapered by 10% every alternate year, so as to reduce the level of funding to 75% of the present level. It is expected that organisations functioning for several years should be able to raise funds from other sources also. This will enable the Ministry to fund more new organisation.

Have you read the above discussion? if you have dared to do so, what you got? Is there any question related with the everyday problems of a common man? certainly not.
 Now think on this question- if the govt. is not aware about the questions related to everyday life of a common disabled man, then how will it answer by its never ending uncountable plannings?

census 2011 data

 i have taken some data of census 2011 from the govt. website censusindia.gov.in/ to know the exact figures of population of magadh region -
                                                     GAYA---- AURANGABAD --JEHANABAD-- NAWADA
TOTALPOPULATION               3473428---    2013055------- 1514315 --------1809696
RURAL                                        2997479 -----1842998-- ------1402703------ 1671253
URBAN                                        475949-- ------170057---------- 111612 -------138443

TOTAL POPULATION OF MAGADH (2011 CENSUS)-       8810494
TOTAL EASTIMATED DISABLED POPULATION ( 03% ATLEAST)-      264314

OUR TEAM

let us, have a brief  introduction of our key members who stand with us, the bodhisattva foundation, to help us in acheiving our objectives-
MANISH-
a well known social figure in Aurangabad district, Gram Pradhan of Ketaki gram panchayat, District secretary of indian redcross society.
manish always with a smile on his face and deep concern for the downtrodden in heart, is the staunch base of support for us, bodhisattva foundation as a key member of our trust.
Mukesh-
a graduate in prosthetic and orthotic science from reputed N.I.O.H., kolkata, presently working with bmvss, bhubaneshwar, orissa, key person behind the concept of magazine and online councelling for the disabled. He is the person having deep concern to research on psychosocial aspects of disability.
Gautam-
0ne of the key architects behind the concept of bodhisattva foundation. Presently doing his masters in prosthetics and orthotics from National Institute for the Orthopaedically Handicapped( N.I.O.H.) ,kolkata, he has the deep ambition to research on the technology to make it cheaper for the disabled. 
Devendra-
a person who has devoted himself for spreading education among poor and orphan children., presently working as the director of Niranjana public welfare school, Bodhgaya, bihar( www.npws.org). He is a inspiriring figure for us providing support on grass root level.
Rajeev-
 An expert in economics as well as child education, working as a coordinator for grass root awareness campaignings of bodhisattva foundation.

religion and disability

what is the role of religion in the fight with disability?
i came across this question in my mind while talking with a patient who perfomed many rituals( religious practices) in the hope that his disabled son will be all right by some divine miracle .
I contacted the texts related with the major religions of world- hindu, christian, buddhist, islam and jewish to get their view on disability and the ways to fight with it.
Indeed, it was a mighty task for me to get time from my duties to study on this topic but i have prepared a summary based on my initial studies. I have excluded hindu view on disability from this discussion because i want to discuss it in a seperate article.
In the view of many religious persons, disablity arises as a result or more precisely punishment for the wrong actions done by the persons in the past. But this thinking has arised due to the misinterpretation of religious texts. Religious scriptures- bible, koran have a different view. In their view, disability is not provided to a person by god for his mistakes. God makes a person disabled just to see and assess the behaviour of other  healthier and wealthier people wheher they have humanely emotions of respect and charity towards the weak or not. Hence, from the religious point of view, disabled persons get central point of importance because if somone serves them, he will rise in the eyes of god.
christian religion have a very sympathetic view about disabled persons. Churches always cared about the weak and disabled population. it is written in the bible that jesus christ always shown deep concern for the welfare of blind, deaf, paralysed and weak persons and treated them as special children of god.By his actions, he shown that the persons serving the weaker and disabled, gets greater in the eyes of god.
Many saints in the christianity, while working for the weaker, poor and disabled, established that the service of these persons is the special service to god.
jewish religion strongly advocates that everyone should try to support a weaker person so that to make him independent..Jewish culture accept the disaled people as human just like others.

buddhist religion explain disability as an opportunity for common people to live an unselfish and spiritual life by showing humanity, charity and help to disabled. Buddhist religion beleives that disability is the result of past bad karmas( actions). But from the positive point of view, it offers a good opportunity for the persons around the disabled persons to do some good actions to get rewarded in their next lives.
Islam religion believes that the disabled persons have the right to get extra support from the society. In islamic belief, allah cares much for his children who are weaker and disabled. Koran says that the allah does not love the selfish and egoist people. Allah want the healthier and wealthier people to use their resources for those persons who are weak and needful. According to islamic beleif, this leads to social balance and allows everybody to live a social life.

thus, all religions become one on this fact- serving the disabled is an opportunity to get a humble status in the eyes of god. More precisely, serving disabled is the special service to god.

please note that above article has excluded the hindu view on disability. There is a need to discuss the hindu view on disability in much detail because it is very important from indian point of view

An innocent question

Why this facility is not available in our area?- The father of a child asked me.
I was sitting in my chamber when a person came to me with his 11 years old child suffering with cerebral palsy. While doing the physical assessment and talking , it became clear that they belong to a rural area of jehanabad district in bihar. He had settled himself in orissa some years ago.
while taking patient history,  i came to the fact that the mother of the child got injured during her pregnancy and because no doctor was available in that area, she taken medicines provided by a unqualified rural doctor. To make the matter worse, child birth was done in the home without the superviosion of any doctor.
The disability of the child remained unnoticed for early years and when the guardians noticed something not normal- they rushed to various hospitals. But, sadly, there was no specialized clinic for treating the cases related with disablity. The child needed occupational therapy and orthotic services but no clinic/agency/professional was available in that area and the guardian was not able to live in state capital patna to avail this facility.
Result? the condition of the child worsened in next coming yeas until the father of the child started the treatment in NIRTAR, ORISSA. After the treatment of three years, the child got improved in many aspects.
Now, during conversation,when he known that i also belonged to the same region, he fired the question- why this  type of organization and facilities are not available in our areas? if this type of facility becomes available in magadh, many persons can be saved from suffering disability . Many lives can be saved before they get spoiled by disability. Many children get disabled not by disease but lack of the medical facility which must be provided after getting the disease. He counted many cases of disabled children who were not so lucky to get medical facilities( just like his child) and the lives of that children of his village are completely ruined now and they have become not less than a burdrn on their families.
I pondered on his question- indeed, why rehabilitation facilities are not available in my area- magadh?Why good professionals are not there to serve there and to fight with disability?. Why there is lack of ngos in this sector?
who is responsible for the spoiled lives of disabled persons- govt. or society? or poverty or ignorance.? Perhaps all of these.
we can't reverse the past but certainly can think about the future so that no one will be disable due to lack of medical facilities, poverty and ignorance.
every sensitive citizen of the magadh area ( especially gaya and aurangabad) should think on this question so that  to eliminate the need of asking this question again in future-- Why this facility is not available in our area?

demogeographical discussion

we, bodhisattva foundation, are going to work in the magadh region of bihar. Let, be familiar with some facts and figures associated with this region.
magadh is the ancient name of this region which now covers the administrative districts of Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada and Jahanabad in the state of bihar. These four district constitute Magadh commisionary having headquarters at Gaya.
One thing you should know from the very begining that magadh region is the one of the most underdeveloped, backward and poorest area in the india .
first know the key figures and facts which i am posting from the website of bihar government.( www.gov.bih.nic.in.)
AURANGABAD
HQ-- Aurangabad
Area-- 3,305 sq. kms.
Population Total- 15,39,988 Rural 14,21,936 Urban 1,18,052
SC Population Total- 3,58,274 Rural 3,41,855 Urban 16,419
ST Population Total- 504 Rural 431 Urban 73
Sub Divisions- Aurangabad, Daud Nagar
Blocks-There are 11 Blocks( Madanpur, Kutumbba, Daudnagar, Aurangabad, Barun, Obra, Dev, Nabinagar, Haspura, Goh, Rafiganj. )
Agriculture Paddy, Wheat, Lentils.
Industry Carpet and Blanket Weaving.
Rivers -Sone, Punpun, Auranga, Bataane, Morhar, Aadi.
GAYA

 HQ- Gaya
Area- 4,976 sq. kms.
Population Total- 26,64,803 Rural 23,08,908 Urban 3,55,895
SC Population Total- 7,88,293 Rural 7,45,037 Urban 43,256
ST Population Total -1,468 Rural 1,082 Urban 386
Sub Divisions- Gaya Sadar, Neemchak, Bathani, Sherghati, Tekari.
Blocks- Atri, Belaganj, Mohanpur, Konch, Barachatti, Manpur, Gurua, Tekari, Imamganj, Gaya, Sadar, Wazirganj, Fatehpur, Paraiya, Sherghati, Bodh Gaya, Khizarsarai, Amas, Dumaria, Bankey Bazar, Dobhi, Tankuppa, Nimchakbathani, Guraru, Muhra.
Agriculture- Paddy, Wheat, Potato, Lentils.
Industry- Oil Mills, Sugar Factory, Lac, etc.
Rivers -Phalgu.
NAWADA

HQ Nawadah
Area 2,494 sq. kms.
Population Total 13,59,694 Rural 1,265,138 Urban 94,556
SC Population Total 3,31,997 Rural 3,21,823 Urban 10,174
ST Population Total 1,246 Rural 1,201 Urban 45
Sub Divisions Nawadah, Rajauli.
Blocks Kauakol,Varsaliganj, Nawadah, Rajouli, Akbarpur, Hisua, Narhat, Govindpur, Pakribarawan, Sirdalla, Kasichak, Roh, Nardiganj, Meskaur.
Agriculture Paddy.
Industry Bidi Factories.
Rivers Sakri.
JEHANABAD
HQ Jehanabad
Area 1,569 sq. kms.
Population Total 11,74,900 Rural 11,00,430 Urban 74,470
SC Population Total 2,16,083 Rural 2,05,047 Urban 11,036
ST Population Total- 238 Rural 182 Urban 56
Sub Divisions Jehanabad.
Blocks-10 ( Ghosi, Jehanabad, Makhdumpur, Kako, Sonebhadra, Bansi, Surjpur, Ratnifridpur, Hulasganj, Modanganj. )
Agriculture- Paddy, Wheat, Lentils.
Industry ..
Rivers -Phalgu.


THESE WERE THE KEY FACTS WHICH ARE TAKEN FROM THE WEBSITE OF GOVT. OF BIHAR.
now get the summary which we need-

1. our area of work is 12344 square kms. ( more than many small nations of world!!).
2. total population of this area is 6739385.( it must be noted that it is the data of 2001 census and according to 2011 census provisional data, this figure comes above 88 lakhs( i will provide the census 2011 data seperately in my next entry.)
3. our target group i.e. disabled population will be at least  the 3% of total population ( govt. recognized ). hence, this figure may be 202181  (2001 census) or most latest  2.64 lakhs( 2011 census).    please note that i am talking about the minimum because the world health organization eastimates disabled population around 10% of total population.  
4. the whole area is severely affecting from socioeconomic problems e.g. poverty, illiteracy, naxal problems, child marriage and many more.  Majority of the population lives in rural areas and is deprived of proper food, nutrition, sanitation and clean water. A lage portion of the population is below poverty line.                            

         Now one more thing, there are almost negligible number of ngos which are specially working for the welfare of disabled population in this entire region. Govt. facilities are also very less and almost centralisesd in urban areas only. so, our members have an exremely complicated and difficult task ahead if we want to do something good to combat disability in this area.
From the above discussion, it should be clear that how mighty our task is!!   But someone have to start from somewhere   and our organization is going to that someone   is spite of all mighty constraints.

i request all our members and supporters to provide their suggestions and thoughts- no matter positive or negative because if we want to acheive success we will have to adopt idealistic as well as realistic approach.

vital statistics

Disability in india has been a neglected subject since long. THe british had made our country disabled in terms of economy and polity. The process of rehabilitation started soon after the independence and now a days our country is standing on its own feet in many respects.
       But unfortunately, a significant part of our population namely' disabled' remained unnoticed no matter who ruled the country either british or indian. In terms of rehabilitation services, there remained a big vaccum. Lack of professionals, wrong policies, lack of govt. fund, lack of technology- these may be some big reasons. But as i think, the bigest reason is the lack of awareness about disability in common masses. Many case of disability can be treated successfully if we do early detection of disability  and apply early intervention. Once left in ignorance, the case reaches in a state when only a little can be done. Almost negligible is done to increase the awareness level of  common people towars disabiliti related aspects.
now, there arises big question- if lack of awareness is the root cause of  the ironical condition of the disabled population in india ( maybe somewhere else too!) then what should be the remeady? To answer this question is quite difficult and will vary on individual thinking.
In my view, education in the proper direction helps to the solution of problems. if lack of awareness is a problem, then it is a  good way to fight with it is to spread the education. if people are taught about the disability aspects, the awareness level will automatically rise .
then next question arises, how to educate the people about disability? Earlier, there was only one way- to do grass root level campaigning. Now a days, there are many- internet, magazines, seminars. By using these means- even a small group of people or organization can reach a big sphere of masses. No doubt, grassroot level campaigning will always have central importance because it  uses the direct form of communication and has long lasting influences.
now, the next question- what should be the right approach towards educating the people about disability?
in my view, for getting the right approach we will have to combine all the means of communications in a single media to get desired effect. To make it more clear, i am providing an example. suppose, an ngo perform an awareness camp in a village focussing on disabled as well as normal people. they distribute booklets containing vital informations in the local language. they share thir expriences through their website and magazine and they run councelling services on website as well as on phone. In this example a centralized agency is using all possible means of communication for two purposes- to spread the knowledge as well as to get the feedback. By using all these means of communication, every organization can broaden their sphere of influence to reach maximum number of people.
since the number of disabled population is large and number of professionals is very less, infact in some rural areas it is almost negligible.In this situation this combined approach becomes essential if we want to see good results inspite of limited manpoer and economic resources

A brief message

We, bodhisattva foundation, are a group of people having high ambitions towards the welfare of physically and mentally disabled persons. We want to reduce the disability rate by spreading the awareness and knowledge among the common people about disability, its causes, the measures by which it can be prevented .
In our country, the services available for the disabled are inadequete and it is very hard to the people living in the rural areas, to get acesses to even these inadequete services. In our first step, we will try to make the people aware about the aspects related with disability focussing on the ways of early detection and prevection of disability as well as encouraging them to avail the rehabilitation services offered by the government..
we are going to start our work in the magadh region of bihar which has the population around one crore and practicallty having very less facilities for the rehabilitation of disabled which comprise more than 3 percent of the population.
indeed, our foundation has a mighty task but we strongly believe that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step