The Disability-Research Discussion List

Managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds

Help for DISABILITY-RESEARCH Archives


DISABILITY-RESEARCH Archives

DISABILITY-RESEARCH Archives


DISABILITY-RESEARCH@JISCMAIL.AC.UK


View:

Message:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Topic:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Author:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

Font:

Proportional Font

LISTSERV Archives

LISTSERV Archives

DISABILITY-RESEARCH Home

DISABILITY-RESEARCH Home

DISABILITY-RESEARCH  May 2002

DISABILITY-RESEARCH May 2002

Options

Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Log In

Log In

Get Password

Get Password

Subject:

call for action on developments in India

From:

Mark Priestley <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Mark Priestley <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Tue, 7 May 2002 09:51:34 +0100

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (365 lines)

Hi

I would like to draw list members attention to the following message and
statement concerning the struggles of disability activists in India. Javed
Abidi has recently begun a personal hunger strike to draw a government
response to demands placed by the Disabled Rights Group. Messages of support
or lobbying on these issues would I believe be much appreciated. The full
text of Javed's message, the statement and the DRG's demands are inlcuded
below for information.

Best Wishes

Mark.


> From: "Javed Abidi" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: URGENT: FROM JAVED ABIDI
> Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2002 21:42:21 +0530
>
> YOUR URGENT ATTENTION PLEASE
>
>
> Dear friends,
>
> As you are aware, Disabled Rights Group (DRG) had
> placed 13 demands before the Government of India on
> 7th February. We had asked the Government to act on
> them within a timeframe of 3 months. These 3 months
> are coming to an end on 7th May. There is no
> evidence whatsoever that the Government has
> considered, leave alone conceded, any one of these
> 13 demands. I guess they are right when they say
> that 13 is an unlucky number!
>
> In purely my personal capacity, I have decided to
> sit on an Indefinite Hunger Strike, from 7th May. I
> have taken this decision after a lot of thought &
> deliberation. My formal statement is placed below
> for your perusal. I request your understanding and
> best support.
>
> I obviously do not expect you to sit with me on the
> Hunger Strike. But, I hope to get your solidarity.
> How you express it is entirely your decision. I
> request you to please consider the following
> options:
>
> 1. Send telegrams, faxes, letters to the Prime
> Minister to consider our 13 demands with the
> seriousness that they deserve.
>
> 2. Organise a Press Conference in your city (esp.
> those of you in State Capitals) and build media
> support. If you can't organise a Press Conference,
> then consider the possibility of sending out a Press
> Release and talk to individual press reporters, who
> are known to you.
>
> 3. Mobilise public opinion. Talk to other Human
> Rights networks and groups. Doesn't matter if they
> are from the Child Rights sector or Environment or
> Old Age. We must get as many people on our side as
> we can, and fast!
>
> 4. Contact politicians & senior bureaucrats known to
> you or your friends. Every Member of Parliament will
> count. We need to make them aware, sensitise them,
> and ask them to write to the Prime Minister. Chief
> Ministers and Senior Leaders, etc. can be even more
> influential.
>
> 5. While I begin my Hunger Strike in Delhi on 7th
> May, what can you do to express solidarity & support
> in your city? Please think this through. Can you
> launch a relay fast or a dharna? Or, can you take
> out a large, huge rally? The bottomline is that WE
> as the disability sector will have to be seen as
> one. Please see what best you can do.
>
> The coming week is critical. Let's hope and pray. I
> hope God Almighty gives us the necessary courage and
> the strength.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Javed Abidi
> 28.4.02
>
>
> STATEMENT
>
> From time to time, over the last 6 years (since the
> passage & enactment of The Disability Act), we have
> been drawing the attention of the Government and its
> various Ministries towards the cause of people with
> disabilities. It goes without saying that disabled
> persons are as much the citizens of this Nation as
> anyone else. There are 60-70 million of them (as per
> conservative estimates) and their fate and their
> future can no more be held mercy to the whim or the
> fancy of the Government of India. They must get
> their rightful share. And, in any case, what
> extraordinary demands do they have to begin with?
> All that they want is to step out of their homes and
> not be caged inside in the absence of access and a
> barrier -free environment. All that they want is to
> go to a school or a college and for the doors to be
> not shut on their faces or on the faces of their
> parents. All that they want is to work and to earn a
> decent living and not have to survive on doles and
> charities. And then, if luck so permits, they do
> want to go to a cinema or to a park or to a shopping
> place just as anyone else! And why can't our
> Government ensure that if all of this cannot happen
> overnight, then at least a decent and honest
> beginning is made? After all, we do have a 'law'
> now?!!
>
> The Disability Act was passed by the Parliament in
> December of 1995. It was notified on 7th February,
> 1996. It contains several fantastic provisions and
> if, just if, 10% of those were to be implemented
> faithfully, the future for the disabled in this
> country will begin to change. The law guarantees 3%
> reservation in all educational institutions but even
> after 6 years of the law, there is not one
> university or college in India that can be termed as
> barrier-free. The law guarantees 3% reservation in
> jobs in all governmental institutions, PSUs, etc.,
> but the provision is flouted day in and day out.
> Hardly any disabled people have got recruited over
> the last 6 years. The law mandates incentives for
> employers in the private sector if more than 5% of
> their workforce is comprised of disabled people, but
> the Government is yet to even spell out as to what
> those incentives are. Obviously, in the absence of
> that, no recruitment of disabled people has taken
> place in the private sector either. The law directs
> that all public places should be made accessible but
> buildings are getting constructed even today without
> any barrier-free features.
>
> Leave concrete action aside, even meetings are not
> held. The law mandates that the Central Coordination
> Committee (CCC) must meet at least once every 6
> months. In the past 6 years, it should have met 12
> times. It has met only 3 times. The law mandates
> that the Central Executive Committee (CEC) must meet
> at least once every 3 months. In the past 6 years,
> it should have met 24 times. It has met only on 8
> occasions. Under The Disability Act, the CCC is the
> policy making body, while the CEC is the decision
> making body!!!
>
>
>
> The law was passed in December, 1995 and was
> notified on 7th February, 1996. The law mandates
> that it will be governed/implemented by the Chief
> Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD).
> For over two-and-a-half years, the Government of
> India kept this post vacant. It required a Midnight
> Vigil by the Disabled Rights Group (DRG) on the
> night of 14th-15th August, 1998, to wake up the
> Government from its slumber. Once appointed, the
> Chief Commissioner (an IAS officer) was not allowed
> to function effectively. To harass him and to
> undermine the Disability Commissioner's office, the
> Government tried to shift the Office of the CCPD to
> Nagpur, saying that the place is in the centre of
> India and so, it will be 'easy' for disabled people
> from all over the country to reach it!!! DRG took on
> the Government then again and asked a rather simple
> question: 'If equi-distance is indeed such a core
> criterion, the why not shift the PMO to Nagpur as
> well???'. The office never went to Nagpur after that
> but the harassment continued. Finally, Mr. B.L.
> Sharma resigned in disgust and the office was vacant
> once more. This time, DRG and several other NGOs and
> disability groups demanded that a disabled person be
> appointed as India's next CCPD. The Government
> ignored the demand and chose one, Dr. Uma Tuli (who
> supposedly runs a welfare NGO/Trust for the
> disabled) over General Ian Cardozo, an amputee from
> the Bangladesh war plus the Head of Advocacy Unit at
> the Spastics Society of Northern India (SSNI); and
> Mr. Sarabjeet Singh, a wheelchair user after
> terrorist violence in Punjab plus one of the Founder
> Members of DRG, actively involved in the drafting
> and the passage of The Disability Act. And as if
> that was not enough, the Government rubbed salt on
> the wounds of the disability sector by shifting the
> CCPD's office from Central Delhi to some far off
> corner in Noida. The place is so unapproachable that
> disabled people have just stopped going there.
>
> I can actually go on and on and on...
>
> On 7th February, 2002, we commemorated the 6th
> Anniversary of the enactment of The Disability Act.
> We could not have allowed such an important
> milestone to just come and go. We placed 13 demands
> before the Government (copy enclosed). We sent a
> representation to the Prime Minister, to the Finance
> Minister, and to the Social Justice Minister. None
> of them have even acknowledged our letter!
>
> We then sent a copy of that representation to the
> Leader of the Opposition and to other key political
> leaders, including a few former Prime Ministers.
> They lobbied for us. We received an acknowledgement
> from Mrs. Sonia Gandhi's office. Mr. I.K. Gujral
> wrote to the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister
> did acknowledge his letter, saying that he will
> 'look into the demands'. On Mr. Somnath Chatterji's
> intervention, Finance Minister met with us but when
> the Budget was read out, there was not a word on
> disability! We still didn't lose hope. We kept up
> our efforts. This Friday, Mr. Yashwant Sinha got up
> a
>
>
> second time in the Parliament, this time to read the
> Amendments to the Budget Bill. While he lowered the
> customs duty on butter, he did not reduce the
> customs duty (leave alone, exempt the same) on
> wheelchairs or on braillers or on hearing aids!
>
> When we placed our 13 demands before the Government
> on 7th February, we had also said that we would
> expect the Government to act upon them within the
> timeframe of 3 months. In fact, we had wanted 5 of
> the 13 demands to be fulfilled within 1 month. One
> of them and the easiest of course was the shifting
> of the office of the Disability Chief Commissioner
> back to Central Delhi from Noida. Even this most
> basic and simple demand has not been fulfilled.
>
> So, what do we do now? We are not just sad or angry.
> We are frustrated and at a complete loss. Are our
> demands so invalid? Do the 70 million disabled
> people of India not have the same rights as the rest
> of the able-bodied Indians? Should we not aspire to
> attend a school or college; should we not want to
> get a job and earn a living; should we not desire to
> go watch a movie or spend an evening in a park?
>
> IF NOT, THEN WHY LIVE AT
> ALL?????????????????????????????
>
> We have had our share of protests and rallies. We
> have held innumerable dharnas. We have had two
> 'token' Hunger Strikes. I guess, DRG has done all it
> can within the realms of a democracy to lodge its
> protest on various occasions; to draw attention
> towards the needs of disabled people; to
> seek/request/demand/plead for people with
> disabilities to be treated as equal citizens of this
> otherwise great Nation. But, we have failed. And as
> the Convenor of DRG, I take complete responsibility
> for this failure. In my wisdom, therefore, I have
> decided that I will begin an Indefinite Hunger
> Strike from 12:00 noon on Tuesday, 7th May.
>
> My suspicion is that the Government does not take us
> seriously. And, it is about time in the history of
> this Nation that its disabled citizens ARE taken
> seriously. If my suffering or my death brings about
> that change, I will consider myself extremely
> fortunate.
>
>
> JAVED ABIDI
> Convenor, DRG
> 28th April, 2002
>
>



OUR DEMANDS

WITHIN ONE MONTH

·        Raise the limit of the Income Tax exemption
for disabled people and their parents from Rs.40,000/=
to Rs.1,00,000/=.

·        Exempt the Aids & Appliances meant for the
use of disabled people, e.g. wheelchairs, braillers,
hearing aids, etc. from import duties and taxes.

·        Announce the Incentives for the Private
Sector to promote employment opportunities for
disabled people amongst the Indian corporates.
Section 41 of The Disability Act clearly mandates this
and six years is a long enough time for the Ministry
of Finance, Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of
Industry. etc., to wake up from their deep slumber.

·        Shift the office of the Chief Commissioner
for Persons with Disabilities from Noida back to
Central Delhi.

·        Sack Dr. Uma Tuli as India’s Chief
Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities.  She
obviously doesn’t deserve the job.

WITHIN THREE MONTHS

·        Extend all facilities that are at present
available only to the orthopaedically, visually and
hearing impaired to those with mental impairment as
well.  Something as ordinary as a concession in bus
fares is still not being given to people with mental
and / or developmental disabilities and their escorts,
in spite of various announcements and promises.

·        Give 1% reservation for people with mental
and / or developmental disabilities in the C and D
category jobs.  It is about time that the Nation and
its policy makers & decision makers realized and
understood that a ‘mentally challenged’ person is not
a ‘mad’ person.  She/he is also capable of
contributing to the society if given a chance and the
right environment.

·        Take steps (concrete and timebound) to
standardise the Indian sign language.

·        Revise immediately the so-called ‘Revised Job
List’ which is full of defects.

·        Abolish the office of the Chief Commissioner
for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) and instead,
appoint/constitute a full-fledged DISABILITY
COMMISSION with 5 to 7 members, on the lines of say
the National Human Rights Commission, etc.

·        Pass the Amendments to The Disability Act
1995 (pending for almost two years or perhaps more).

·        Shift ‘Special Education’ (whatever that
means !!) from the Ministry of Social Justice &
Empowerment to the Ministry of HRD. The Department of
Education should be made responsible for the education
of all Indian children / students and not just the
non-disabled ones.

·        Pass an Ordinance to ensure barrier-free
design and access features for disabled people in all
future constructions.  No more public buildings or
utilities to come up unless they have met the
necessary requirements as mandated under The
Disability Act.

________________End of message______________________

Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List
are now located at:

www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html

You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.

Top of Message | Previous Page | Permalink

JiscMail Tools


RSS Feeds and Sharing


Advanced Options


Archives

March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
September 2002
August 2002
July 2002
June 2002
May 2002
April 2002
March 2002
February 2002
January 2002
December 2001
November 2001
October 2001
September 2001
August 2001
July 2001
June 2001
May 2001
April 2001
March 2001
February 2001
January 2001
December 2000
November 2000
October 2000
September 2000
August 2000
July 2000
June 2000
May 2000
April 2000
March 2000
February 2000
January 2000
December 1999
November 1999
October 1999
September 1999
August 1999
July 1999
June 1999
May 1999
April 1999
March 1999
February 1999
January 1999
December 1998
November 1998
October 1998
September 1998


JiscMail is a Jisc service.

View our service policies at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/ and Jisc's privacy policy at https://www.jisc.ac.uk/website/privacy-notice

For help and support help@jisc.ac.uk

Secured by F-Secure Anti-Virus CataList Email List Search Powered by the LISTSERV Email List Manager