Reaching the Unreached: Delivering Disability Services in Tribal and Rural India

In India’s rural and tribal belts, disability often goes unseen, undiagnosed, and unsupported. For families living in isolated villages, basic health care is a challenge — specialized disability services are nearly impossible to access. Uma Educational and Technical Society (UETS) has been working for over 37 years to change that.

Through its Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) and District Disability Rehabilitation Centres (DDRCs), UETS brings life-changing services to the doorsteps of some of the country’s most marginalized populations — especially in tribal regions like Alluri Sitarama Raju (ASR) District.

What UETS Is Doing Differently UETS’s approach is community-rooted, multi-sectoral, and inclusive. It currently operates:

• Three DDRCs in Kakinada, Eluru, and East Godavari

• A CBR project in ASR tribal district, covering over 40 remote villages

• A network of trained field workers who provide door-to-door disability identification, therapy, and follow-up

Instead of waiting for people to come to service centers, UETS takes services to them.

Spotlight: CBR in ASR District – Reaching Tribal Families

ASR (Alluri Sitarama Raju) District in Andhra Pradesh is one of India’s most underserved tribal regions. UETS’s CBR program here focuses on:

• Disability identification in remote tribal hamlets

• Door-to-door assessments by trained outreach workers

• Facilitating disability certificates, pensions, and assistive devices

• Parental training in care and early stimulation

• Working with tribal leaders and PHCs to ensure follow-up

Thanks to this work, children and adults who were once invisible are now known, counted, and supported.

The Power of DDRCs

As an implementing agency for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India’s District Disability Rehabilitation Centres (DDRCs), UETS ensures that thousands of people across three districts can access:

• Free physiotherapy, speech therapy, and psychological support

• Artificial limbs and mobility aids like CP chairs, walkers, and hearing aids

• Awareness and sensitization programs in schools, Panchayats, and Anganwadis

• Mobile camps in hard-to-reach rural zones
  

Breaking Stigma, Building Trust

In tribal areas, trust matters. UETS doesn’t operate with a top-down approach — its outreach workers are trained to respect cultural traditions, speak local dialects, and engage tribal elders. The result is growing acceptance, early referrals, and strong community ownership.

A Mother’s Words from ASR District

"We thought our child was cursed by God. But now we understand it’s a condition that can be helped. My daughter received a wheelchair and now attends school. I never imagined this day would come." — Tribal mother from Rampachodavaram Mandal, ASR District

Looking Ahead

UETS aims to expand its rural and tribal outreach through:

• More CBR-trained village volunteers

• Partnerships with district health departments

• Digital tracking of beneficiaries in underserved mandals

• Strengthening school and anganwadi-based referrals

How You Can Help

• Are you a donor looking to support tribal rehabilitation?

• A CSR partner aligned with inclusion and rural health?

• A volunteer wanting to work on the ground?

UETS invites you to be part of this change.

Contact us at: info@uetsindia.org

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Disability doesn’t discriminate by geography — but services often do. UETS is proving that with dedication, cultural respect, and community engagement, no village is too remote and no child is too far to be reached.

Because inclusion must not stop at the city limits.