The challenges faced by persons with special needs in Kashmir are not merely medical or personal; they are social, economic, and deeply institutional
DR WASEEM ASAD SHAH
In the Kashmir Valley, the conversation around persons with special needs has, for too long, remained trapped between pity and neglect. Society often praises resilience, offers charity in moments of emotional visibility, and then returns to indifference. Yet disability is not a seasonal issue, nor a ceremonial slogan to be remembered only on official occasions. It is a daily lived reality for thousands of families across the Valley, shaping access to education, employment, healthcare, mobility and dignity.
The larger tragedy is not disability itself. The tragedy lies in the barriers that society creates, barriers of infrastructure, attitude, policy execution and opportunity. When a child cannot enter a school because there is no ramp, when a young graduate cannot compete for a job because workplaces remain inaccessible, when a person must struggle merely to obtain certification or monthly assistance, the failure is not personal. It is institutional and collective.
Official data still reflects an old and incomplete picture. The 2011 Census recorded 361,153 persons with disabilities in Jammu and Kashmir, amounting to 2.87 percent of the population. Even district-wise references in the Regional Digest 2024–25 continue to rely substantially on 2011 disability tables for districts of Kashmir such as Srinagar, Budgam, Baramulla and Anantnag. This itself points to a serious policy weakness: one cannot plan meaningfully for inclusion with outdated numbers. A society that does not properly count its vulnerable citizens often ends up not fully serving them either.
At the same time, administrative figures suggest that the need is extensive and the system is slowly expanding. Since 2019, 2,19,261 Unique Disability ID cards have been issued in Jammu and Kashmir, while 2,262 students have received scholarship support amounting to about ₹9.61 crore under central schemes between 2019-20 and 2024-25. These are important steps, but they also underline how many people require sustained support, certification and access to entitlements.
The Valley’s disabled population does not need symbolic concern; it needs a functioning support architecture. Financial assistance remains one of the sharpest examples of the gap between policy and reality. The Integrated Social Security Scheme in J&K provides ₹1,000 per month to eligible persons with benchmark disabilities living below the poverty line.
A similar amount is available under the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme in J&K. In present economic conditions, this amount is plainly inadequate. It can scarcely cover transport, let alone medicines, assistive devices, personal care or basic daily needs. Repeated public demands to raise the pension to at least ₹3,000 reflect not exaggeration, but economic realism.
Education presents another uncomfortable truth. We often speak of inclusive schooling, yet inclusion in Kashmir remains partial and fragile. Research has pointed to gaps in teacher training, resources and school infrastructure that hinder the real inclusion of children with disabilities in Kashmir.
Another study found that while some textbooks show inclusive intent, JKBOSE-authored material lacks a comprehensive and nuanced portrayal of disability. This matters because exclusion begins not only at the school gate but also in the classroom imagination. If disability is not represented with sensitivity and realism, students grow up learning invisibility.
Employment is perhaps the most critical frontier. The law offers a framework of rights and reservations. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, together with the Jammu and Kashmir Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2021, provides for protections, accessibility obligations and institutional grievance mechanisms. But legal promise alone does not create livelihoods.
Ground reports from Jammu and Kashmir show that many specially-abled persons continue to feel neglected, citing inaccessible infrastructure and a lack of adequate job opportunities. A disability-friendly society cannot be built if people are kept dependent through unemployment.
There is, however, reason for guarded hope. The establishment of the Composite Regional Centre at Jammu in 2023 for rehabilitation services, assistive devices and professional training marks an important institutional development. The government has also publicly spoken of systemic reforms, increased accessibility and stronger collaboration with civil society in the context of disability rights in late 2024. Such commitments are welcome, but in Kashmir, what ultimately matters is not the announcement but the afterlife of the announcement.
The Valley now needs a clear shift in approach. First, disability must be treated as a governance priority, not merely a welfare sub-category. Second, public buildings, hospitals, schools, colleges, bus stands and offices must undergo time-bound accessibility audits. Third, the pension structure must be revised to reflect actual living costs. Fourth, recruitment under disability quotas should be transparent, regular and visible. Fifth, rural families need easier access to certification, therapy, counselling and educational guidance.
And finally, society itself must abandon the language of helplessness. Persons with special needs are not objects of sympathy; they are citizens with equal rights, equal aspirations and equal claim to public space.
Kashmir has long spoken the language of endurance. But for persons with disabilities, endurance cannot be the only option. They deserve mobility instead of obstacles, opportunity instead of tokenism, and dignity instead of delay. A humane Valley will not be judged by how eloquently it expresses concern, but by how completely it removes the barriers that make ordinary life unnecessarily hard.
That is the real measure of a caring society. And Kashmir must now rise to it.
( The Author is a lecturer, social activist and public speaker)