Grishma's Road to Achievement: An Interview with Suresh Nair, Featuring Grishma, a 35-year-old woman from Mohali
In an interview, Grishma Suresh, a woman paralyzed below the neck due to an accident, expressed her hope for a more inclusive and accepting society for people with disabilities in India. Grishma, who faces challenges when stepping out due to lack of social inclusion, emphasized the importance of empowering people with disabilities to lead independent lives.
Grishma aspires to become an advocate for people with disabilities and work towards creating a more accessible and inclusive India. She highlighted the emotional burden of having to constantly fight for her rights and accessibility, and the significant psychological impact her accident had on her.
The financial challenges faced by people with disabilities in India are numerous. They include difficulties in managing finances due to low income, poor cost control, limited revenue generation, and systemic barriers such as complex disability certification processes and strict verification requirements for benefits. These challenges are compounded by gaps in financial inclusion, where many disabled individuals cannot independently access or operate banking services, loans, or pensions, undermining their financial dignity and independence.
Regarding insurance options, the search results do not explicitly detail specific disability-related insurance products available in India. However, the broader issue of financial inclusion implies challenges in accessing tailored insurance and financial products designed for disabled persons, indicating a need for more inclusive, accessible insurance schemes and strict enforcement of related policies.
Key financial challenges and insurance-related concerns for people with disabilities in India include access to banking and financial services, disability pension limitations, disability certification complexity, and lack of inclusive financial instruments.
Many disabled people cannot open or use bank accounts independently due to accessibility issues, obstructing their ability to save or borrow with dignity. Schemes like the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS) face problems such as low compensation amounts, stringent verification criteria, and exclusions, limiting financial safety nets. Obtaining official disability certification, necessary for accessing various benefits including insurance eligibility, is hindered by inadequate training of officials and administrative hurdles. Banks and financial institutions lack sufficiently inclusive and accessible insurance and credit products, partially due to inconsistent policy enforcement and insufficient incentives for innovation in this space.
While general insurance options in India include government schemes providing disability pensions and some health or personal accident insurance plans that cover disability, their accessibility and adequacy remain problematic as highlighted by the inclusion and certification challenges.
Grishma Suresh also mentioned the lack of accessibility in public places as a significant challenge. She called for policy changes to ensure equal opportunities for people with disabilities in education, employment, and social life. She expressed the need for more awareness and understanding towards people with disabilities in Indian society.
Grishma's social life changed after the accident, and she discussed the emotional impact of her accident on her family. She shared her struggles with social inclusion in Indian society and how Indian society finds it hard to accept disabilities. Despite the challenges, Grishma remains hopeful and determined to make a difference. She discussed the most prominent moment of her life, which was her decision to become an advocate for people with disabilities.
Grishma Suresh's interview serves as a reminder of the need for change and the importance of inclusivity and acceptance for people with disabilities in India.
Grishma Suresh advocates for the integration of mental-health therapies-and-treatments as part of comprehensive support for people with disabilities, given the emotional burden and psychological impact they face. In a attempts to improve health-and-wellness outcomes for disabled individuals, she calls for the development of more inclusive and accessible science-based interventions that address the unique challenges and needs of this community.
