Accessibility is the key to India's growth story

India's commitment to inclusive development has consistently drawn direction from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a nation where every citizen is empowered to live with dignity.

- TUHIN A. SINHA AND NAGENDER PARASHAR

The Prime Minister has repeatedly emphasised that disability does not diminish a person's talent or potential, stating that disability is not an obstacle to success when society ensures equal opportunity. This clarity of thought is essential as India reflects on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and evaluates whether accessibility has been integrated into the centre of national development.

India has a significant population of citizens with disabilities, many of whom are limited not by their impairments but by a physical and social environment that restricts their functional independence. For decades, disability was viewed primarily through a medical framework, but the most persistent barriers have always been structural.

These barriers include public buildings without universal design, transportation systems that do not support mobility, workplaces that lack adaptive technologies and prosthetics that remain out of reach due to high costs or long waiting periods. The United Nations has long underlined that disability becomes disabling only when society fails to create an enabling environment.