Panel set up to draft new disability law

CHENNAI: Paying heed to the demands of disability rights’ groups, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on Wednesday decided to scrap the idea of amending the Persons With Disabilities Act of 1995 and create a new law altogether. The first draft of the new law is expected to be out by August 31.

Why is this cause for celebration? After India ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), it became imperative that all laws dealing with disability be amended to include the provisions of the UNCRPD. Initially, the ministry introduced 100-odd amendments, but activists pointed out that even with those amendments, the law left much to be desired. Since last August, the ministry had been considering whether to continue with the amendment process or scrap it and go with a new law altogether.

Wednesday’s decision, which came through a ministry memo, came as a relief to activists who found the delay frustrating. The memo, according to Javed Abidi, of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, said that the government had decided to constitute a committee to examine the responses it had received and draft a new legislation to replace the PWD Act of 1995.

“This is a huge victory for us. After eight months of intensive lobbying the government has conceded wholesomely,” Abidi said. However, he reserved his comments on the composition of the committee, which is to be chaired by Sudha Kaul, of the Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy. Other members include Rajiv Raturi (Human Rights Law Network), Dr Bhushan Punani (Blind People’s Association), Uma Tuli (Amar Jyoti Charitable Trust), Jayashree Ravindran (Ability Foundation). “Out of the 20-30 people on the committee, 10 are directly from the sector – which is a great thing. However only three of them are actually persons living with disability,” he explained. “This shows that the mindset has still not changed. Leadership of the disabled people should be left with us. We are not bereft of talent, there are many known leaders and respected voices among us,” he said.