“During the training session, I could not help but think about the people with disabilities back in our Block. They too deserved a more dignified life. I had to do something about it.”

Capacity building of potential women leaders network at the community level and inclusion of disability and gender issues in policy making is one of the prime areas of focus of VHAI in Assam. The aim is to strengthen the health and nutrition phenomenon in Assam.

Once Charu Barman, the Mahamaya block federation member, was back from the two-day capacity building training session on disability inclusion, she disseminated her experiences with her fellow network members. One of the issues that got highlighted during the discussion was the exclusion of many persons with disabilities from government records. This in turn kept them ‘ineligible’ for the government funded benefits meant for them. Charu had learned at the training about the activities of Balipara block federation in Sonitpur district in 2018 who had prepared the list of the excluded but eligible individuals and brought them into the system. The Mahamaya block federation decided to conduct the same exercise in their block too.

The process was long and tedious. Charu and her fellow federation members went from house to house to identify the excluded persons with disabilities and collect their relevant details. The lists were then submitted to their respective Aanganwadi Centres which ultimately were received by the Social Welfare Department. As of now, about 40 per cent of the listed people with disabilities across 15 Anganwadi Centres have been included by the department. This implies that these 40 per cent will now be able to benefit from the ongoing government schemes active for them.