![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/08\/3-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Srinagar: In remote villages of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the greatest obstacle for families raising children with disabilities is not the disability itself, but the broken roads, distance and the absence of basic healthcare access.<\/p>\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, in Chill Brass village of central Kashmir\u2019s Budgam district, 49-year-old Ghulam Nabi Lone carries his 12-year-old daughter Insha Nabi in his arms to reach the nearest road for any medical visit.<\/p>\n
Insha, who developed a disability at six months of age, cannot speak. Her home is connected only by a narrow, uneven footpath that no vehicle can reach. During rains it turns to mud, and in winter snow makes it treacherous.\u201cThere is no ambulance that can reach her doorstep, no wheelchair-accessible pathway and no transport system designed around her needs,\u201d Lone said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we have to take her for treatment, I first carry her to the road. Only after that can we find transport.\u201dFor Lone, a daily-wage labourer supporting a family of seven, each hospital visit costs between INR 500 and INR 1,000 for transport alone, excluding consultation fees and medicines. \u201cThere were many times doctors advised CT scans and other tests. We simply couldn\u2019t afford everything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
During winters, families often carry patients on wooden cots across snow-covered terrain until they reach a point where vehicles can take over.Nearly 30 km away, Mohammad Rafiq Tali faces a similar ordeal with his 15-year-old son Meraj, who developed a disability at age one.<\/p>\n
With no transport available, the family carries him on shoulders or on a charpoy through uneven paths. \u201cReaching a hospital is often as exhausting as the treatment itself,\u201d Rafiq said. A single trip to Srinagar costs INR 1,000 to INR 1,500, while he earns only around INR 400 a day when work is available. \u201cWhatever income I earn is quickly consumed by medicines, transport and treatment.\u201dHe said he applied for a scooter to ease hospital visits but never received it.<\/p>\n
A wheelchair was provided, but the lack of accessible infrastructure makes it unusable.The emotional toll is equally severe.<\/p>\n
Rafiq\u2019s wife now takes medication for heart problems and anxiety. \u201cI have not visited relatives for years. We cannot leave him alone,\u201d he said.While officials claim welfare measures like disability pensions, UDID cards and assistive devices are being implemented under the J&K Social Welfare Department, residents say these schemes fail to reach remote areas.<\/p>\n
A Roads and Buildings department official said a Detailed Project Report for road connectivity to Chill Brass has been submitted, but work is yet to begin.<\/p>\n
For families like Lone and Tali, every journey for treatment, certificates or even school begins the same way \u2014 with a father lifting his child and walking kilometers on foot.\u201cSome days, the journey is for treatment. On others, it is for a disability certificate or a government office. For Insha, every journey begins the same way,\u201d Lone said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Srinagar: In remote villages of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the greatest obstacle for families raising children with disabilities is not the disability itself, but the broken roads, distance and the absence of basic healthcare access. According to Kashmir Media Service, in Chill Brass village of central Kashmir\u2019s Budgam district, 49-year-old Ghulam Nabi Lone …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":207575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indian-occupied-jammu-and-kashmir"],"yoast_head":"\n