SERVING DIFFERENTLYABLED

WITH 2.68 CRORE DISABLED POPULATION IN THE COUNTRY, A NUMBER OF INDIAN STARTUPS HAVE COME UP TO CONTRIBUTE TO SIMPLIFYING AND EASING THEIR MOBILITY CHALLENGES

- PAROMITA GUPTA

One sunny October afternoon, what was supposed to be Virali Modi's big day turned into a nearly sour one. Being outside the Registrar's Office at Khar Mumbai with her partner and family, Modi was in a fix when they realized the building had no lift. Taking to X, the microblogging platform, she shared "My country should accommodate my needs and the needs of millions of disabled citizens." About 2.68 crore citizens out of 121 crores of India live with a disability as per the 2011 census. Unfortunately, the 1991 Population Census did not cover disability. While Modi has the means and resources to lead a fairly mobile life, not everyone has the accessibility or awareness about it. However, some founders have taken it up to themselves to create more affordable-accessible mobility solutions for the differently-abled. The startups in the space include Arcatron, Aether Biomedical, Lechal, Innovision, Torchlt, Bionic Yantra, Astrek Innovations, Robo Bionics, Eye-D, and Widex India. According to Grand View Research, the global personal mobility devices market was valued at $10.58 billion in 2022, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8 percent from 2023 to 2030.

THE NEED FOR INNOVATION

While the 2001 census suggested 2.68 crore as the figure, in 2009, a World Bank Report suggested that the number had reached between five and eight percent (around 55-90 million individuals). The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities shared that the percentage of disabled to the total population increased from 2.13 percent in 2001 to 2.21 percent in 2011. The lack of proper infrastructure and resources has resulted in the mass exclusion of the specially-abled population. "My disability exists not because I use a wheelchair, but because the broader environment isn't accessible," said Stella Jane Young, an Australian comedian, journalist and disability rights activist.