About Us

SRMAB’s Vision: “All people with disability will have the opportunity to fulfill their potential and live life with self-respect and dignity.”

Over the past 4 plus decades, SRMAB services have reached over 16000 persons through the School (IBR) and Thirumurthy Rural Development Centre (IBR). This is supplemented with several community based rehabilitation (CBR) programs in semi-urban and rural areas in Karnataka. Covering 7 districts, and working in about 1800 villages.

SRMAB reaches many more thousands by training teachers and CBR professional from across the country & overseas in its HRD initiatives.

In a developing country like India where persons with disabilities constitute about 5.21% of the total population of the country, the challenges faced are acute and innumerable. 40% of the country’s population lives below poverty line, with only 2% of disabled children having access to education and approximately 80% of disabled population being unemployed. One out of every five persons below the poverty line is disabled. Wide spread ignorance, lack of awareness, nutrition, unhygienic conditions, pre-natal and post natal care, accidents, lack of proper health facilities and many more reasons cause disabilities, especially among the poor. The existing physical, social and attitudinal barriers increase the challenges faced by persons with disabilities. Considering all these factors, the Academy designs programs to address and redress the need of persons with disabilities within the community.

Some of the issues are as follows:

• People with disabilities lack access to basic rights such as health, education, employment, personal expression, civil and political rights and have little or no access to information. It is estimated that only 2% of disabled people in developing countries have access to inclusive primary education and employment.
• There is very little basic awareness about the causes and the prevention of disabilities. Also the rights, schemes and facilities available for persons with disabilities are rarely understood.
• There is a lack of awareness and understanding on disability issues, which are human rights issues, among the government, NGO’s and community networks.
• There is a lack of resources for the promotion of community-based initiatives responding to the needs of people with disabilities. The needs of 80% of people with disabilities can be met at the community level.
• The promotion of inclusive approaches reduces the vulnerability of differently abled persons. Education and economic empowerment results in ensuring that the rights of differently abled persons are upheld, thus minimizing the differences within the community.

Our Approach

SRMAB believes in a participative, rights based, barrier free society, which enables the disabled along with the people of the community to enjoy life to its full extent through education, economic empowerment and social equality.

SRMAB is constantly striving to develop an innovative approach, working with people with disabilities, venerable groups and community who benefit from its extensive experience.