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Measuring support provisions for people living with disabilities in South Asia: an accessibility index
- Authors:
- AHMAD Mahtab, AHMAD Mokbul Morshed
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Service Research, 37(4), July 2011, pp.439-455.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
The vast majority of people with mild and moderate physical disabilities in South Asia are entitled to the locally available rights-based support provisions for enhancing the economic capacity of the poor. However, there is no proper mechanism to gauge specifically the trend of inclusion on a regular basis of disabled people in such provision. The purpose of this article is to propose an index to measure the level of achievements of disabled poor in rights-based economic empowerment support entitlements. Following a review of the empowerment support provisions in public policies, 5 components were chosen for the index: ability; employment; vocational skill; microcredit; and safety net provisions. The developed index was tested in 245 individuals with physical disabilities in 2 districts in Pakistan. The results demonstrate that, despite promising policy statements for equal citizenship, a gulf exists between the rhetoric of disability rights and their implementation. Most empowering development initiatives support a ‘cost/benefit’-based philosophy, rather than the ‘means–ends’ goal, where the disabled poor are viewed as unproductive and risky payers, instead of giving them an opportunity to exercise their potential. The article suggests that the index might be a useful option for local use to track the inclusion trend of the disabled poor regularly and guide policymakers accordingly.