International Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Open Access

Abstract

On Question of Feasibility of Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) for the Disabled in India: A Trend Away from the Normative Plinth

Tarit Kumar Datta and Dipanwita Ghosh

The incidence of disability is fast increasing in the industrialized world that we live in. The World Health Organization (WHO), 2010 study indicates that at least 10% of the population of a developing nation suffers from one kind of disability or another. However, the statistics generated from two rounds of decadal Indian census reports (2001 and 2011) the percentage of disabled to the total population at a bare minimum (2.13% and 2.21%), exposing the casualness in the measuring technique. A study on the funds allocation from the central pool towards rehabilitation in India between 2004-2005 and 2013-2014 has reflected that the flow has not been need-based. Grossly violating the basic principles of the Community Based Rehabilitation plinth that promises rehabilitation for the disabled at their places of residence, the flow of funds has been opportunity based or need based from the perspective of the service provider.