FRAGMENTED REALITIES OF THE PANDEMIC: The multiple marginalities of disabled people in India

ABSTRACT

The systemic exclusion of disabled people from family, social and community life is mirrored today in the social isolation and distancing that entire populations are experiencing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has therefore brought the community into sharp focus for disabled people and their families in urban areas, either as the unrelenting and unresponsive assortment of strangers or as the empathetic responsible groups providing much-needed support. The pandemic and lockdown presented different kinds of barriers to accessibility in healthcare facilities. The pandemic, the lockdown and an economic slowdown have combined to effectively demonstrate that disabled people, especially women, dependent on and unwanted by families, are considered highly expendable. The cultural script of fear unleashed by the pandemic was something with which disabled people and their families had been somewhat acquainted in the present urban social formation. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Niharika Banerjea, Paul Boyce and Rohit K. Dasgupta;individual chapters, the contributors