Union Budget and Disability Inclusion
The Union Budget traditionally viewed disability through a lens of welfare and concession, often treating assistance as support rather than integration. However, the 2026-27 Union Budget marks a shift towards inclusive growth, where people with disabilities, or divyangjan, are seen more as participants than mere beneficiaries.
Inclusive Growth and Employment
- The focus is on skilling, employment, and integration into emerging sectors.
- Emphasis on futuristic actions: Enable, Upskill, Employ.
- Census 2011 records disability at just over 2% of India's population, but this is likely underestimated. Labor force participation among disabled persons is lower than the national average.
- Inclusion is often visualized with disabled individuals in work settings, particularly in front of screens, which fits into training modules and employment pipelines.
Specific Focus: AVGC Sector
- Employment opportunities within the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) sector are highlighted.
- The sector is seen as accessible, requiring skill and attention, but minimal interaction with physical city infrastructure.
- This reflects a model of inclusion that demands little change to public infrastructure.
Challenges and Limitations
- The Budget promotes individual-level inclusion through skill impartation and job creation, but largely leaves the environment unchanged.
- It aligns with India's Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act's focus on accessibility but highlights the gaps in implementation, particularly in transport and public spaces.
- Research indicates that barriers to participation are more about access to infrastructure than just skills or willingness.
Narrowing Vision of Inclusion
- There's a shift in tone, with disability included in growth narratives, but the inclusion is specific and limited.
- The Budget presents inclusion at work but does not address broader inclusion in public spaces.
- This indicates a preference for integrating disability within existing systems rather than reshaping surroundings to be more accessible.
The Budget depicts a clear image of inclusion at the workplace but remains ambiguous about extending this inclusion to public infrastructure. It highlights the need for a broader vision that includes not just employment opportunities but also accessible public spaces.
