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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Disabled divided over Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill -Divya Chandrababu

Disabled divided over Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill -Divya Chandrababu

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published Published on Feb 6, 2014   modified Modified on Feb 6, 2014
-The Times of India


CHENNAI: The UPA government is likely to introduce the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill in the Parliament during the second leg of the winter session which began on Wednesday.

The bill has driven a wedge between disabled rights activists who have widely divergent opinions on the bill, which many see as a watered down version of the document made available by the government on the website of the ministry of social justice and empowerment.

While some activists are rallying against this new version, others have held candlelight vigils across the country pressing for the Bill to be passed.

Disability rights activists have sought the intervention of senior Congress leaders to include decisive amendments to the bill. "Most crucial concerns have been addressed and the modified bill is what will hopefully be tabled," Disability Rights Group convener Javed Abidi said.

"We identified 20 non-negotiable amendments and met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the ministers for law and social justice," he said. "Modifications have been made on the issue of legal capacity, definitions of disability, employment and education."

The Delhi-based group has led the movement to press for the bill, and the process of drafting the law was set in motion five years ago. However, the group is at loggerheads with other disabled rights activists and groups, who say it is not in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The groups against the bill in its current form say it is just old wine in a new bottle. The bill does not ensure full legal capacity, they say, authorities in charge of enforcement of disabled rights are not given the full powers they need and the bill's penal provisions are weak.

Disability Rights Alliance has written to the Centre on behalf of various NGOs, noting that the bill contained "legal infirmities'. "The bill is the antithesis of what it was meant to be. We want in to be withdrawn," said Amba Salelkar, fellow, Inclusive Planet Centre for Disability Law and Policy.

"The Supreme Court in 2009 ruled that a mentally challenged woman can choose to have children, but the current bill says a severely disabled woman's pregnancy can be terminated with her guardian's consent," she said.

The bill has a provision for increasing quota in government jobs from 3% to 5% and enables accountability in private sector and educational institutions. It also has particular focus on psycho-social disability and developmental disorders.

The legislation will replace Persons with Disability (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995. India signed and ratified the UNCRPD in 2007 by which it was bound to modify the domestic laws and harmonize the four different legislations for the disabled.


The Times of India, 5 February, 2014, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Disabled-divided-over-Rights-of-Persons-with-Disabilities-Bill/articleshow/29911510.cms


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