The Hindu : New Delhi News : Duty exemption on aids welcomed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 12, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Duty exemption on aids welcomed

NEW DELHI, JULY 11. The duty exemption given to a number of aids for the disabled in the Union Budget has been welcomed by the physically challenged community who have also called for giving incentives to the private sector to employ people from their group.

``After a long wait, we have got this consideration in the budget. The duty exemptions given to aids and assistive devices for the physically challenged will make life easier for a large section of people who want to be mobile and stand on their feet,'' says Uma Tuli, Chief Commissioner, Persons With Disabilities.

Though physically challenged people in the rural areas will not get any benefit, those in the `A' category who need these products to improve their life will feel the difference, says Tuli adding disabled people who are working and want to increase the range of assistance they get will benefit from the exemptions.

Duty exemptions on talking books, braille computer terminals, braille typewriter, assistive listening devices, crutches, walking frames and artifical limbs will result in these things becoming cheaper and accessible to a greater portion of the disabled people.

Pointing out that hardly any good quality devices for the disabled are made in India, Javed Abidi of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment has welcomed the move saying it will have a good impact on the long-term availability of assistive devices.

``Even something as basic as hearing aids are only assembled here and so are a host of other things, and in this scenario we need to understand how life will become easier for a large section of the community which wants to lead an independet life,'' says Abidi.

Stressing that the move is a vote for the independence of the disabled sections, J L Kaul, General Secretary of the All India Confederation of the Blind says exemptions on products like braille thermometer and calculators will especially help blind couples who need to know their child's temperature and carry other chores independently.

A K Mittal, Regional Director, National Institute for the Visually Handicapped says any move the government makes for the physically challenged population is good but there is a need for sustaining the momentum. Moreover, the government should realise that any small concessions they will make for the section will not make a big difference to the exchequer.

``Though the government has dealt with the issue of exemptions for aids in a decisive manner, there is a need for giving incentives in the budget to private sector so that they employ disabled people in the organisations,'' says Abidi.

NGO's also call for extending the benefits to the vocational and educational sector where children need a lot of help.

``There are a lot of vocational aids like screw gauge and soldering devices for the handicapped which are made abroad and can be brought here if government makes a move to make them reasonable,'' says Mittal.

``Low floor buses and barrier free transport has already been launched in Delhi but because of their high cost we cannot take them to all cities of the country where a lot of people are left bereft of their advantages. Thus the government needs to make them reasonable and accessible to all kinds of disabled persons,'' adds Tuli. - PTI

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