By Dr Amita Bhakta
(With inputs from Katha Bhatt, Krishna Keshavani, and Pramila Silakari)
The original blog was published on the MECS website and is available here
It is estimated that 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the world’s population, have a disability. Yet up until now, we have known very little about people with disabilities’ energy needs, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The data put forward by the United Nations tells us that households with people with disabilities are less likely to have access to electricity than those without, and that if you live with a disability in a low- or middle- income country, your household is more likely to be cooking with traditional biomass fuels. But what are the lived experiences of the households with people with disabilities behind these figures? A desk-based project I previously did for the MECS Programme, where I reviewed the literature on disability and energy, offered few clues. Over the first three months of 2025, I travelled to Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India, to dig deeper. In collaboration with Prabhat Education Foundation, we discovered that the link between disability and energy was a bigger blind spot than I had imagined. This blog reflects on our team’s experiences in Ahmedabad earlier this year as part of a project I led for the MECS Programme with Prabhat Education Foundation on ‘Energy, Disability, and Everyday Life in Ahmedabad’.
Development experts remain in the dark on energy and disability
On a personal level, I would be among the first in line to openly admit that even as an expert from an urban planning background working on inclusion in low- and middle-income countries, I knew little about this topic. When I arrived in India, I did not expect to find similar gaps in knowledge among other ‘professionals’ in the field.
On the ground, our team gathered stories from people with disabilities- the true experts- in communities across Ahmedabad from Navrangpura to Narol and beyond, through creative methods such as PhotoVoice and drawing, which enabled them to communicate their experiences in powerful ways. Their realities, as our report shows, revealed an array of issues: inaccessible kitchens, electricity and public infrastructure; higher energy needs amidst power instability; economic constraints; and policies lacking disability-inclusive standards that deeply impacted their daily lives.
We later turned to professionals in Ahmedabad’s universities and organisations working in the sector to seek their perspectives on energy access for people with disabilities. Emails were sent, interviews were arranged, and questions for us to talk about were shared. Yet soon after the questions were reviewed, we were met with an unexpected response. Some professionals began to withdraw from interviews after humbly admitting they simply did not know. Experts in urban planning and disability had never encountered the issue of energy and disability linkages before. We had uncovered a clear blind spot.
What became glaringly evident during the study was how far-removed energy policy is from the lived realities of people who actually use it for basic, daily survival—especially disabled individuals and caregivers. Cooking, as a core energy activity, does not even register as a priority in most policy discussions. This gap is not accidental. Many of the decision-makers we spoke to—mostly non-disabled men from economically privileged backgrounds—openly admitted they do not cook at home. One official even remarked, “Cooking is not an issue for the disabled, you guys are making it an issue.” That one statement captured the deep disconnect.
What makes this invisibility even more complex is that many disabled persons themselves do not necessarily demand change. Over time, they have found workarounds—often burning themselves, adapting unsafe practices, or simply pushing through—without complaint. Some even express a quiet pride in managing on their own, despite the risks and lack of support. These acts of resilience, while admirable, also point to how these struggles have become normalised in the absence of inclusive infrastructures. When both policy and lived experience adjust to exclusion, the system is rarely questioned—and that is precisely the problem.
But why, when electricity and cooking fuel are so critical to life, has this topic remained overlooked for people with disabilities?
Misunderstandings of energy hide disability needs
Our research revealed that misunderstandings about what constitutes ‘energy’ contribute to this invisibility. While our work focused on basics many high-income countries take for granted – electricity access and cooking fuel – some disability experts assumed our research was about renewable energy and climate change. This reflects the need to shift focus from power plants to kitchen fires, and to place disability at the centre of energy policy and practice. Until ‘energy’ is fully understood, the daily struggles of people with disabilities will continue to be overlooked.
Where is the data?
Another big part of the answer lies in the lack of data. Our research found that with India having not had a Census since 2011, there is no basic information about the number of people with disabilities and the extent of access to electricity and cooking fuels across the country in general. This 15-year data gap makes it impossible to effectively plan for their energy needs, either in policy or practice. Data on energy access is rarely disaggregated to reflect the needs of people with disabilities. For electricity connection providers, information about people with disabilities and their needs is inaccessible, often sitting with somebody else at a city and district level. This data gap hinders inclusive policymaking and results in exclusionary policies.
Our research also identified disparities in fuel subsidy provision between states, alongside limited awareness about these subsidies among people with disabilities. Without mandates requiring accessible energy infrastructure – from user-friendly switches to inclusive subsidy processes – the energy needs of people with disabilities go unmet. Access to granular data on households with people with disabilities is key to ensuring their needs are addressed.
Where next?
This study is among the first to explore the relation between energy and disability in depth. Urgent action is needed to address this blind spot and ensure that the energy needs of people with disabilities are met.
To start with, we need more information about it. When surveys in India such as the upcoming national Census, the National Sample Survey, and the Socio Economic and Caste Census are conducted, disability-disaggregated energy needs should be integrated into the questions, so that we begin to build a clearer picture. Monitoring frameworks must track functional, not just technical, energy access for people with disabilities. Energy subsidies (either through free or subsidised units) should be linked to households with people with disabilities, with priority to those relying on life-sustaining medical devices.
This study has begun to uncover the daily energy realities of people with disabilities. It is high time that these realities are no longer treated as an add on in urban development. Different sectors must come together to work with people with disabilities to create truly inclusive energy infrastructure, so that their needs remain a blind spot no more. The full research report, ‘Energy, Disability, and Everyday Life in Ahmedabad’, is available here.
Author’s Acknowledgements
My thanks go to the participants at the heart of this research for bringing light to this blind spot, to my fantastic research team, Katha Bhatt, Krishna Keshavani, and Pramila Silakari who made the experience such a joy, and to the wider Prabhat Education Foundation Team.
Featured Image: Katha Bhatt (left) and Dr Amita Bhakta (second left) working in the field in Ahmedabad. Photo by Prabhat Education Foundation.