The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘New disability law shrouded in secrecy'

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Tuesday, Aug 31, 2010
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘New disability law shrouded in secrecy'

Deepa Kurup

Activist Javed Abidi finds law-making opaque

Javed Abidi, Honarary Director, NCPEDP at the State Consultation on New Law and Census 2011 in Bangalore on Monday.

BANGALORE: Ironic as it is, the process of drafting the new disability law that seeks to do away with the “regressive and outdated” Persons with Disability Act (1995) is non-inclusive and entirely opaque, disability rights activists decry.

The approach of the drafting committee is flawed, says disability rights activist Javed Abidi, speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of a State-level consultation on the new law and the ensuing census.

Mr. Abidi, who is the convenor of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, has over the past few months tried to “leak” minutes of the meeting and various sub-committee reports and circulate them among various non-governmental organisations and stake-holders.

“There is lack of transparency. Since April 2010, when the committee was formed, the group has met only thrice. The deadline for submission of the final draft has been pushed from August 31 to December 31. Out of the 10 sub-committees that have submitted reports on various sectors thus far, not even one has been placed in the public domain,” Mr. Abidi says.

“Why is the process shrouded in secrecy; and that too about a law that seals the fate of 70 million disabled persons in this country?”

He points out that the drafting committee has held no consultation involving people from the disabled community. According to a work plan of the committee that enlists the course of action leading up to the preparation of the Bill, it seeks to convene a “National Assembly” of stake holders to deliberate on the working draft in November.

Such a consultation must precede the preparation of a new law, instead of being tagged on to the end as an afterthought, he says, fuming at the “tokenism” of it all. In the third meeting, a few members from the community and various disability NGOs were granted permission to attend as “observers” and were denied any right to speak.

This new disability law seeks to align the 15-year-old legislation with the United Nations Convention on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities (UNCRDP) that India ratified in 2007. Although it took the government three years to begin formulation of a new law, the Centre had given its committee four months to prepare a draft.

From the drafts that have been accessed, Mr. Abidi says, it appears that the new law has little “good news” for the community. “For instance, the education draft moots a proposal to set up special schools. This when educationists are harping on changing the new Right To Education Act to make schools more inclusive.

The committee appears to be caught in a time warp,” he says.

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