S Nisha, J Balamurugan
Access to assistive devices is essential for the rehabilitation and social participation of persons with disabilities and constitutes one of the major development strategies for persons with disabilities in India. The Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/Fitting of Aids and Appliances (ADIP) scheme was introduced by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India as an initiative to support economically disadvantaged people with disabilities in procuring such devices. Despite its national mandate, there is limited literature on how the scheme is implemented across Indian states. This study examines interstate variation in the implementation of the ADIP scheme in India over 5 years, from 2020 to 2025. Using secondary data from publicly available sources, three indicators were constructed: beneficiary coverage relative to the disabled population, fund utilization per beneficiary, and beneficiaries served per distribution camp. To assess the degree of interstate inequality, descriptive statistical methods, including coefficient of variation and range ratio, were applied. The findings reveal differences in fund utilization and camp outreach, highlighting uneven implementation of the scheme. The results indicate that access to assistive devices under the ADIP scheme is geographically spread unequally across Indian states and Union Territories (UTs). Therefore, this study advocates for more balanced, region-specific implementation strategies to ensure equity in beneficiary coverage.