Imagine, if a visually impaired person is moving on a road along with his white cane. The road is haphazard or there are many twists and turns on the way, and there are no tactile paths, how will that person be able to commute on such road? Likewise, if a person is wheel-chair user and is working in a school. If he wants to climb to the second floor or the third floor of the school building and there are no ramps or lifts attached in the building, how will that person be able to climb upstairs? It means, that there is a need of some structural changes which could cater to the needs of persons with disabilities. In other words, some modifications in the concept of so-called “NORMALCY:.
Persons with disabilities have their own basic needs and living styles. These styles have been regarded as a cultural and social threat to the accepted standards of normalcy. In disability discourse, the concept of normalcy has been at the centre of the debate of ableism and disableism. It is widely accepted by the disability scholars and activists that the criterion of normalcy has been fixed by the majority of the people of the society, so called “able bodied” persons, who consider themselves as fit or able bodied and others not fitting within their prescribed criterion as unfit or disabled.
During the decades of 1960’s, In disability discourse, there emerged a social model of defining disability, which postulates, that it is not the impairment of a person which makes him disabled, rather, the structures of the society are constructed in a way which makes him feel disabled. The social model of defining disability poses the challenge to the accepted norms of normalcy and demands for some major structural changes. So that, persons with disabilities could also enjoy their basic right to accessibility on equal basis to their non-disabled counter parts.
Today, as most countries of the world are grappling with the challenges brought forward by corona vires or covid-19, some principles are expected to be the part of our daily lives. such as physical distancing, wearing masks or washing hands regularly, in order to have a control on this vires. world health organisation {WHO} has recently stated, that perhaps this vires may not go away for ever, in such a scenario, these all principles have to be made part of our of habits. While some of the habits are easy to adopt in our daily routine, some other, require structural changes at great length, such as the principle of social/ physical distancing.
Most of the structures of the society today are designed in a way, in which it is almost impossible to adhere to the principle of physical distancing, and they have become fixed standards of normalcy. For example, our trains, aeroplanes or the buses are designed in such a way, where the principle of physical distancing is practically impossible to implement. Moreover, in such a populated country, can anybody imagine, that before boarding the bus thermal screening could always be appropriately implemented. There could be a number of such examples to cite here. In fact, some major changes are required in the concept of normalcy, to accommodate the needs of today’s time, which I think is not economically viable for developing country like us.
Disabled persons have been demanding accessible environment for a long period of time, and their demands are yet to be meet. In such a situation, with lots of constrains, how will it be possible for country like India to make structural changes to cater to the needs of covid-19. As persons with disabilities have been compelled to learn to live within these structures, likewise, common masses, have to learn to live within the given structures. Because, it is next to impossible, to compromise with the concept of normalcy and to make structural changes at great length.
Dr. Kapil Kumar
Delhi based Disability rights activist and scholar
Can be contacted at
Kapil22nd@gmail.com