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Conversation Changers: Being Counted: Disability Rights in India
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Conversation Changers, Salzburg Global's podcast, brings together thought leaders, artists, policymakers, and change-makers from around the globe to reframe dialogue, explore new ideas, and imagine better futures.
What does it truly mean to be recognized by the state, and what are the perilous consequences for minority populations when they are left out of the data that shapes public policy?
In this episode of Conversation Changers, host Eric Olander explores the urgent intersection of technology, data, and human rights. As big data, AI, and machine learning increasingly dictate who holds power, marginalized communities, particularly people with disabilities, face a growing risk of digital and systemic exclusion.
Joining the conversation from New Delhi is Shameer Rishad, a Salzburg Global Fellow and the founder of the Javed Abidi Foundation. Shameer is leading vital initiatives to challenge societal perceptions of disability in India, advocating for a shift from a historical model of charity and sympathy to one rooted firmly in human rights and empathy.
From the structural hurdles of the upcoming 2027 Indian census to the political mechanics of "vote banks," this episode offers a striking look at the battle for visibility. Shameer reveals how a lack of localized data directly translates into a denial of healthcare, education, and basic infrastructure, explaining why being counted is the first essential step toward real political representation.
Highlights From This Episode
- The Power of Being Counted: What it means for a welfare state to recognize its citizens and why excluding people with disabilities strips them of their fundamental rights.
- The Census Challenge: A look inside the massive, door-to-door enumeration process in India and why a lack of training manuals and dedicated budgets threatens the inclusivity of the 2027 census.
- The "Vote Bank" Dilemma: How political organizing dictates policy in India and why people with disabilities are striving to collectivise as a formidable voting bloc.
- The Data Exclusion Risk: The severe, compounding consequences that occur when analogue exclusion becomes aggregated into digital policy, impacting funding for healthcare, education, and transport.
- Systemic Resistance and Litigation: The arbitrary bureaucratic decisions that stall progress, such as dropping disability indicators from key health surveys, and the civil society groups fighting back through public interest litigations (PILs).
- From Sympathy to Empathy: Shameer’s call to action for commissioners, politicians, and everyday citizens to move away from pity and instead uphold the law through human rights.
Continue the Conversation
Click here to subscribe to Conversation Changers on your favorite podcast platform and join the conversation on social media using #ConversationChangers and tag @SalzburgGlobal.
Follow Shameer Rishad on LinkedIn here. Find out more about the Javed Abidi Foundation here.
Follow Eric Olander on LinkedIn here.
