UDAVI Society – Upliftment of democratic and village improvement

India’s disability census report, brings to light the fact that two out of every hundred Indians suffer some form of mental or physical disability. The country’s first comprehensive headcount of mentally and physically challenged people, released in 2004, states that there are 21,906,769 disabled people in India the disability rate being 2.13%. As the report reveals the increase in the number the attitude towards differently abled persons is yet to take a positive turn. It was just two decades ago a more empathetic term “Differently Abled” had its origin, coined by the US Democratic National Committee. The term is yet to be universalized and substitute the conventional label “Disability” and its crudest version, “Handicap” implying a longer way for attitudinal changes in favor of differently abled persons. If this be the attitude and status of disability, imagine what the combo of disability with poverty would spell.

Poverty among the urban population has many deterring effects and foremost of them would be inability to fulfill basic needs and the absence of cohesion within the community. In such an unfavorable scenario, differently abled persons in urban slums are doubly marginalized and vulnerable since they have to bear the brunt of socio economic status coupled with their physical/mental conditions. Apart from toiling under grave poverty, ripped off basic amenities, the differently abled have very less access to medical facilities and are denied support services. Inaccessibility to therapeutic measures is a part of economic deficiency and low self esteem characterized in differently abled is attributed to the need for belonging and self sufficiency.

“Community Based Rehabilitation Programme for Differently Abled” was the project that addressed the needs of this group integrating their physical and psychological well being:

Reaching out to

This project initiated in the year 1999 till date covering 32 slums in Central Chennai addressing Orthopaedically Handicapped, Visually Impaired, Hearing Impaired, Mentally Challenged, Speech Impaired, Mentally Ill, Cerebral palsy, Epilepsy, Multiple Disability.

Milestones