Abstract
According to the United Nations, more than 500 million people in the world suffer from some form of disability (Despouy, 1988). India also reports high prevalence of disability. The Census data of 2001 revealed that in India there were about 21.9 million (2.13 per cent of the total population) people with disability (PwD), whereas the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) data of 2002 estimated these figures to be 49–90 million. The difference in estimates of Census (2001) and NSSO (2002) for different types of disabilities can be explained by the lack of universal definitions and criteria of disability used during the surveys (Walia, n.d.). As per the latest Census data of 2011, there is a substantial increase of 22.4 per cent in the disabled population of India during the decade, with over 26.8 million (2.21 per cent of the total population) people in the country suffering from one or the other kind of disability (Sivakumar, 2013). These figures at the national level can be considered as mere estimates and the actual disabled population can be much higher than the one mentioned above. One of the reasons for low reported figures can be the stigma attached to disability that prevents many people, especially women and rural disabled, from declaring their disability (Hiranandani & Sonpal, 2010; Jeffery & Singal, 2008). This fear or stigma can be attributed to the way people perceive disability. A disability refers to a physical, sensory or mental limitation that interferes with a person’s ability to move, see, hear or learn (Ministry of Social Affairs National Committee for the Disabled, 2003–2004). A person may be either born disabled or may become so later in life due to an illness or an accident. According to Census 2011, 20.3 per cent of the disabled are locomotor impaired, followed by hearing impaired (18.9 per cent) and visually impaired (18.8 per cent). Nearly, 5.6 per cent of the disabled population suffers from mental impairment, a classification introduced in the 2011 Census (Sivakumar, 2013).
Highlights
According to the United Nations, more than 500 million people in the world suffer from some form of disability (Despouy, 1988)
These initiatives have attempted to include the large pool of customers with disability (CwD) in the mainstream, either by developing new products and services or by fine-tuning the existing products and services to cater to their specific requirements
The issue of disability is the collective responsibility of the society at large to make the environmental modifications necessary for full participation of people with disability (PwD) in all areas of social life (Langtree, 2010), which includes providing economic benefits in a sustainable manner to such people. This has been known as the economic model of disability where disability is defined as a person’s inability to participate in work (Michigan Disability Rights Coalition, n.d.)
Summary
Persons with Disability Models of Disability Diversity Inclusion Strategic Innovation. As per the latest Census data of 2011, there is a substantial increase of 22.4 per cent in the disabled population of India during the decade, with over 26.8 million (2.21 per cent of the total population) people in the country suffering from one or the other kind of disability (Sivakumar, 2013) These figures at the national level can be considered as mere estimates and the actual disabled population can be much higher than the one mentioned above. Organizations would be able to serve a larger segment of society by making them a part of their business strategy This view is different from diversity inclusion initiatives mentioned in the existing literature that either focus on employees or on other stakeholders like vendors. Our focus is on CwD which is less explored in general and virtually unexplored in the Indian context
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