The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Call to remove lacunae in Disabilities Act

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 13, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Call to remove lacunae in Disabilities Act

Special Correspondent

Methods suggested to remedy them

A.P. Shah, Chief Justice of Madras High Court, speaking at a workshop organised by Ability Foundation in Chennai on Saturday. — Photo: Shaju John

CHENNAI : The Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Justice A.P. Shah, on Saturday called for the removal of numerous lacunae in the Persons with Disabilities Act (PWD), 1995.

At the valedictory function of a workshop organised by Ability Foundation to discuss the proposed amendments to the Act, "Acting on the Act," Mr. Justice Shah listed a number of lacunae in the current law and suggested methods to remedy them. The very definition of disabilities under the Act was very narrow, he charged. It did not even conform to the World Health Organisation classification. Also, prescribing a minimum percentage of disability for one to seek redress under the Act was not desirable.

"The disabled cannot be measured by the percentage of their disability," Mr. Justice Shah said to applause from a gathering comprising activists and social workers among others.

Absence of deadlines

The absence of timelines or deadlines to achieve targets set by the Act was a major deterrent to its implementation. Also, Government agencies found it convenient to seek refuge behind the clause that says implementation can be done "within the economic capacity" of the agency, for not acting on the provisions of the law. Deadlines should be introduced and the economic criteria clause removed, Mr. Justice Shah said.

Section 42 of the Act called upon the State to provide aids and appliances to persons with disability and this should be expanded to include state-of-the-art enabling software.

While Section 43 called for preferential allotment of land to the disabled, the Chief Justice said he had not come across any such case.

Mr. Justice Shah called for planned, co-ordinated dissemination of information (about the PWD Act) among the public and the disabled. "By and large, in India, we need a healthy system to deal with discrimination."

Ability Foundation also brought together on the same platform three of the key persons in the implementation of policies for the disabled — Manoj Kumar, Chief Commissioner for Persons With Disabilities; Ian Cardozo, Chairperson, Rehabilitation Council of India; and Poonam Natarajan, Chairperson, National Trust Act.

They elaborated on various provisions of the PWD Act, the Rehabilitation Council of India Act and National Trust Act, also outlining policies on the anvil and how disabled persons could access the benefits of these schemes.

Idea bank

Jayshree Raveendran, executive director, Ability Foundation, said the organisation would be willing to co-ordinate an idea bank that could collect suggested amendments to the PWD Act.

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