The journey of 58 year old Satyakumar Sanjenbam who has been living with cerebral palsy besides being a quadriplegic with no function of both his upper limbs and no mobility along with poor speech can only be summed up as awe-inspiring. For someone challenged with such major physical restrictions and then to be limited by the lack of any formal training or education but to beat every barrier in the way and emerge victorious is on one hand a validation of the sheer will of an individual but on the other ought to shame the state of support systems for people with special needs. For long, the explanation being given by the concerned authority is that the families of children with various forms of special needs shy away from taking the help of various schemes and often hide them. Not many know that this explanation is more of an excuse given the nature of Anganwaadi workers and other link workers who are engaged as community outreach workers whose duty it is, to map the areas under their operation and identify children with special needs. The sad reality is that most support schemes and aid programs exist on paper with different departments not being linked or integrated at all. The much discussed about Right to Education act is inclusive of children with special needs with either Government schools being mandated to provide free schooling and other support that is due to its students or deputing special tutors to give home education. The sad truth of course is that Government schools are not reaching out to children with special needs while private schools in the state are till date not inclusive of such children who need special care. In Manipur, there are special centers, often run by NGOs and though they do give a room for building the capacity of children with special needs ranging from visual, hearing and speech impairment; cerebral palsy and others, the core area of integration cannot be served since it is exclusive only of such children. Much like the debate and ultimate rejection for HIV positive children only schools on the grounds that such exclusivity is a form of discrimination and stigma, the status quo with children with special needs being confined only to places where they get to mingle with others with the same condition needs to be acknowledged.
In case parents and family members are not ready to disclose that their wards and children live with limitations in terms of their physicality, mental and emotional well being, the blame must raise squarely with the Social Welfare Department and other agencies who are responsible for creating awareness and sensitization among the community. Mere lip service of appeals to parents to step forth is not going to lead to any pro-active steps. Rather, there must be concerted efforts to educate, inform and implement various support schemes and aid initiatives for not just children with special needs but for adults as well. There are various state led interventions where major strides have been made to build the capacity of people and children with special needs and engage them as citizens and not as objects of charity and sympathy. A cursory online search for Government aid for people with special needs in the country will throw up a plethora of resources with even certain websites designed around making them user friendly to the visually impaired too. In Manipur, such a stage is unthinkable in the context of any visible efforts from the state agencies to give the seriousness that the issue demands.
On another level, the situation of women and girl children with special needs is fertile ground for various forms of sexual exploitation. The age of depravity that we see around us is ample proof that women and children with physical and mental limitations are not safe from being raped, molested and sexually exploited repeatedly. Many such cases have taken place in Manipur and if measures are not taken up to address the gaps that exist in this context; the concerned authorities will have much to answer. But if what lies on paper is to be implemented and implemented well, children with special needs when they go to schools that are inclusive in nature will be part of society and be safer.For anything pro-active to happen, the mind set needs to change first. Till the time people with special needs are treated as second class citizens and token statements handed out as consolation, much of what is being said and done will only remain as tokens.