India is the host of one of the largest population of persons with disabilities (PwDs) in
the world. However, a large section of this population has been unable to access
opportunities for economic and social progress, despite the enactment of the RPWD
Act, 2016, the country’s most ambitious disability rights legislation to date. This
study attempts to analyse the impact of the Indian government’s two primary welfare
policies – the disability certificate and a cash transfer (the pension) - on employment
outcomes for PwDs. Logistic regression results show that having a certificate with
percentage of disability less than 60%, raises the probability of employment by 17%.
As the extent of disability rises above 60%, the probability of being employed
declines. However, the largest effect size is seen for a narrow set of registered salaried
jobs. The effect of the pension is analyzed through a propensity score matching
technique for each state, keeping out of pocket (OOP) disability expenses as the
outcome, and pension as the treatment. The results reveal negative and significant
treatment effects (ATT) of the pension on OOP disability expenses. Interpreting OOP
expenses as an indicator of the ‘conversion handicap’ faced by PwDs (Sen, 2004), we
argue that cash transfers can also indirectly reduce the barriers to employment