COVID19: Lockdown how it is affecting people with disabilities

Date: 10 June 2021           The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the vulnerability of people with disability to isolation and discrimination, affecting their right to live independently and be included in the community. The pandemic threatens to reverse gains achieved from years of advocacy that had started to ensure policies and programs were disability-inclusive in line with the UN CRPD.  In such situations of humanitarian crisis, people with disabilities (PwDs) remain the most left out and deprived category in availing support and care. No Looking Back Using new communication technologies such as WhatsApp, Samarthyam Team set up an active group of the APNO Organisation of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) under UNESCAP partnership project “Protecting and empowering persons with disabilities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic”. The project activities were planned in full swing; however, India was hit by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic...

Samarthyam (www.samarthyam.com) is an Organization of People with Disabilities (OPDs) founded in 1991. We have a Special Consultative Status with United Nations ECOSOC, since 2015. The pioneering efforts of Samarthyam are recognized by UN agencies and Government of India, for example promoting rights based advocacy, inclusive, accessible and sustainable environment with focus on independent, safe mobility and gender equality (girls and women with disabilities). Samarthyam team  is working with proactive approach to reach out to grassroots OPDs with the help of  central and state governments  and  UN agencies . As India continue to battle the pandemic, we are amplifying our outreach to people with disabilities to reassure that their survival is a priority by promoting connectivity in rural and remote areas, assuring information in accessible formats and preventing discrimination. The Covid-19 crisis is new.   It is requiring us all to act, inte...

I was in complete shock when India  21 days  lock down  was announced on 23 March 2020  due to Covid-19 . I had no cue how I will get access to my caregiver who helps us (my sibling and mom) at home for activities of daily living. I started talking to local police and higher officers in the government. I was denied the curfew pass as I was 'disabled' and was asked to call 'relatives' to seek help during the lock down. I was stunned with this kind of behavior but could understand the gravity of the situation- they did not had any instructions/orders on 'disability inclusive response and consideration' during lock down.  Challenge My priority was to get a curfew-pass for my caregiver and then move on to find solutions to this distress as there are senior citizens and people with disabilities (more than 20 million) and many have high support needs.  I got a curfew pass with immense difficulty from local police station that too when the police...