The new disability rights bill
which has a bearing on the life of millions of persons with disability
is still stuck in Parliament. Despite senior opposition, leaders
including Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, and several Congress leaders,
including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, assuring the disability sector
that the Bill will be passed, this non-political bill has been stuck due
to disruptions in Parliament over political issues such Telangana and
Tamil fishermen.
"Aspirations of 70 million disabled citizens depend on the smooth passage of the new Disability Rights Bill. The new Bill, if passed will ensure absolutely basic but necessary provisions like the inclusion of many other neglected disabilities, such as deaf, blind, dyslexics, and people with hemophilia and thalassemia," said Javed Abidi, convenor of the Disability Rights Group. He added that disability was never a political issue and he appealed to the members of Parliament to rise above political differences to pass the bill.
"The amended bill should be passed because it is time that all the neglected disabilities which were not recognised as disabilities in this country, also get the benefits of education and employment which they have not had so far. If the bill does not get passed, the whole process will be indefinitely delayed for god know how many years," said Merry Barua of Action for Autism. She added that even if this bill was not perfect, passing of the bill was a start and later more changes could be brought in through amendments. "There will never be a perfect bill and there will always be some people who will be unhappy," said Barua.
"While we respect the concerns expressed by all those who want the current Bill to be referred to a standing committee, and while we in no way belittle their concerns on getting a raw deal from the establishment with regard to their specific demands, that should in no way cloud the larger concern of the community of people with autism, thalassemia, multiple sclerosis and all the disabilities which are fighting for first time ever inclusion," said Madhusudan Srinivas, speaking on behalf of his son who is autistic.
The disability sector has been unhappy with an earlier version of the Bill which was approved by the cabinet as it was a "watered down version" which did not address crucial issues. However since then the cabinet has approved 15 amendments to the bill. These amendments included validity of disability certificates across the country, mandating educational institutions not only funded by the government but also all institutions recognised by the government to provide inclusive education for children with disability and increase in reservation for persons with disability in government jobs from 3% to 5% which will be computed against the total number of vacancies in the cadre strength. It is this amended bill that the disability sector is urging Parliament to pass without any further delay.
Source : TOI , 11th Feb 2014
"Aspirations of 70 million disabled citizens depend on the smooth passage of the new Disability Rights Bill. The new Bill, if passed will ensure absolutely basic but necessary provisions like the inclusion of many other neglected disabilities, such as deaf, blind, dyslexics, and people with hemophilia and thalassemia," said Javed Abidi, convenor of the Disability Rights Group. He added that disability was never a political issue and he appealed to the members of Parliament to rise above political differences to pass the bill.
"The amended bill should be passed because it is time that all the neglected disabilities which were not recognised as disabilities in this country, also get the benefits of education and employment which they have not had so far. If the bill does not get passed, the whole process will be indefinitely delayed for god know how many years," said Merry Barua of Action for Autism. She added that even if this bill was not perfect, passing of the bill was a start and later more changes could be brought in through amendments. "There will never be a perfect bill and there will always be some people who will be unhappy," said Barua.
"While we respect the concerns expressed by all those who want the current Bill to be referred to a standing committee, and while we in no way belittle their concerns on getting a raw deal from the establishment with regard to their specific demands, that should in no way cloud the larger concern of the community of people with autism, thalassemia, multiple sclerosis and all the disabilities which are fighting for first time ever inclusion," said Madhusudan Srinivas, speaking on behalf of his son who is autistic.
The disability sector has been unhappy with an earlier version of the Bill which was approved by the cabinet as it was a "watered down version" which did not address crucial issues. However since then the cabinet has approved 15 amendments to the bill. These amendments included validity of disability certificates across the country, mandating educational institutions not only funded by the government but also all institutions recognised by the government to provide inclusive education for children with disability and increase in reservation for persons with disability in government jobs from 3% to 5% which will be computed against the total number of vacancies in the cadre strength. It is this amended bill that the disability sector is urging Parliament to pass without any further delay.
Source : TOI , 11th Feb 2014
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