CHHATTISGARH : Across rural India, earning a daily wage often means doing physically demanding work. For many vulnerable people, including persons with disabilities, this has made it difficult to access livelihood opportunities and participate in government employment and welfare programmes.
According to the 2011 Census, nearly 70% of persons with disabilities live in rural areas where livelihood opportunities are limited. This makes it especially important to create employment opportunities that take into account their abilities and allow them to earn a living with dignity.
Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon is showing how this can be done. Here, Divyangjan (persons with disabilities) are being given opportunities to participate in the workforce and earn their rightful daily wages. By adapting work requirements to individual abilities, the district is creating a more inclusive approach to rural employment—one where people are given work based on what they can do, rather than being left out because of their physical limitations.
“This singular step aligns with the vision of the Centre and the state government to empower the last mile. The Rajnandgaon administration has rolled out tailored productivity norms for people with disabilities. The scheme introduces disability-friendly categories of work customised to individual capabilities,” said Jitendra Yadav, Rajnandgaon collector, who conceptualised the initiative.
“This initiative also aims to bring socioeconomic security and self-reliance to the families of Divyangjan and VBGRAMG labourers, who actively lead and participate in rural development from within their communities,” said Vishnu Deo Sai, Chief Minister.
As the transformation unfolds across the rural landscapes of Rajnandgaon, 85 Divyangjan have stepped into roles at the grassroots level.
Once seen solely as passive recipients of social welfare schemes, they are now steering rural infrastructure projects—overseeing worksites, verifying muster rolls, uploading geo-tagged progress reports, and ensuring quality and accountability on the ground. Under an innovative and participatory initiative by the district administration through the Viksit Bharat G-RAM-G (VBGRAMG) scheme, these 85 individuals have been trained and appointed as site supervisors (Mates). Today, they hold the measuring tape, lead crews of dozens of labourers, maintain daily records of beneficiaries and oversee worksites.
Rural employment has been a cornerstone of India’s social protection framework for nearly two decades. Rather than confining Divyangjan to the periphery, the district’s vision plan has integrated them into the mainstream of village administration. They verify daily attendance of labourers and inspect active worksites.