Akul Oraon with 50% disability faced discrimination at every walk of life. It is much tougher than it sounds. With Locomotor Disability, he is mostly dependent on others for movement. Across the globe, People with Disability (PwD) suffer extreme forms of social neglect and exclusion.

There were hardly any social movements in India which raise the holistic empowerment of PwDs. Civil societies and NGOs are working hard to bring PwD into the social mainstream. Caritas India through her Gram Nirman program is engaged with the community to restore the human value and dignity of the most marginalized section community in the society.

Gram Nimran is implemented in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh with the objective of Building and strengthening community institutions. These CBO’s have been instrumental in creating awareness among communities on diverse development issues of the villages as well as government schemes. Access to rights and entitlement is a major challenge for the PLWDs, widows, single mothers, aged persons, landless.

The program has laid especial emphasis on ensuring ‘Disability Certificate’ for the PwD’s in the area to ensure social security and livelihood options. The programme has successfully helped 169 PwD’s to receive their Disability Certificate. The certificate is issued by the District Hospitals after the complete checkup by the civil surgeon and fixing the percentage of disability. This certificate is a basic document which helps in availing any facilities, benefits or concessions under the available schemes.

“It is a weapon for me from which I will be able to access the scheme so that I could start my own business”, shares Aklu Oraon from Rajadera Angara Block of Jharkhand. He has received his certificate after the facilitation of Caritas India.

Funded by Caritas Australia, the program identified PwDs through the Gram Sabhas. The program facilitated the process of the formation of PwD groups. These groups regularly meet and discuss their challenges, Govt. Social Welfare schemes & process to access these schemes.

It is important to facilitate and support their participation and empower them to voice their concerns at appropriate levels to break the preconceived notion of marginalization. This program has emphasized marginalized section’s to encourage active participation in the decision-making forum like the Gram Sabha and other community-based units through sensitization and inbuilt knowledge and skill-building initiatives and facilitation.

After a long effort, Changes are visible. Today these stakeholders have been organized in the groups and able to approach respective departments for their social entitlements and security schemes. The disability certificate played a very important role in accessing all the social and welfare schemes launched for the most vulnerable section of society. The particular sections have initiated the income generation activities; petty business and livestock keeping as an income generation activity to secure their life. This has brought recognitions in society.

Mr. George Tirky with 100% disability from Rajadera Angara Block – Jharkhand, on behalf of the PwD groups acknowledged the program and thanked for supporting them to live in the society with human value with dignity.