Tanju Devi is a member of the Tharu tribe and she lives in a forested area in West Champaran along the Indo-Nepal border. She comes from a community which has had to face a long history of abuse, neglect, and degradation at the hands of other communities. Having witnessed injustice at such close quarters all her life, she worked hard…

Tanju Devi

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In a small village in Bihar, a disabled old man Raj Bansi Majhi, earns his living from the alms he begs because he can't find work with one hand. The disability certificate he is entitled to, is nowhere in sight and his children have abandoned him. The disability certificate allows the disabled population in Bihar to access several state schemes such as Bihar Disability Pension Scheme, Mukhya Mantri Samarthya Yojana which provides monthly compensation of Rs. 300. As small as the sum seems, the allowance gives a sigh of relief for many of the marginalized disabled people. Anita Devi, a disabled woman of the area says, "It is very difficult to get the medicines and treatments without money. Any support from the government will be helpful." The government also has a three per cent reservation for persons with disability, which allows an equal footing to the disabled.

Like Manjhi, there are many other disabled people living Below Poverty Line (BPL) in the village of Semri Dumri of West Champaran in Bihar without a disability certificate and thereby are not able to fully benefit out of the many state and national allowance schemes and employment opportunities. Join the fight to equality with our community correspondent Tanju Devi to demand disability certificate for the needy. Call the Civil Surgeon of West Champaran, Bihar on +919470003201 or drop in a message at the number requesting action for the problem.

This video was made by Video Volunteers Community Correspondent Tanju Devi.

According to Census 2011, India is home to 26.8 million people with disabilities. Conservative estimates however put it close to 70-100 million. In fact, the 11th Five Year Plan acknowledges that disability is grossly underestimated in the country. The World Health Organisation says hat 15 percent of a country’s population is affected by disability. An analysis of government spending from 2008-12 done by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) showed that India spent an abysmal 0.0009 percent of its GDP on disability issues.

Video Volunteer's community correspondents come from marginalised communities in India and produce videos on unreported stories. These stories are ’news by those who live it.’  they give the hyper local context to global human rights and development challenges. See more such videos at www.videovolunteers.org. Take action for a more just global media by sharing their videos and joining in their call for change.