New Delhi:
Expanding the definition of disability, the rights of persons with disabilities bill has been tabled in the current winter session in the parliament.
The bill expands the definition of disability from seven to 19 and now includes sickle cell disease, thalassemia and muscular dystrophy besides autism spectrum disorder, blindness, cerebral palsy, chronic neurological conditions and mental illness.
It seeks to increase reservation for disabled persons in public sector jobs from existing 3 per cent to five per cent and reserve seats for them in higher educational institutions. It also requires all recognised educational institutions to be inclusive and to provide reasonable accommodation.
The national disability commission would not just draw up guidelines but also have the powers to enforce them. A violator could face anywhere from six months to five years of imprisonment and a fine from Rs 10,000 to five lakhs.
16 crucial amendments were proposed by the activists and most have been included. But the activists say they are surprised that the Left parties which stood by them in the fight to get an effective bill, are now recommending it to go to a parliamentary committee. This they fear will delay its passage.
The convener of the disability group, Javed Abidi said, "to stall it now means stalling it for around two years, as the country is going to elections."
CPI's National Secretary, D Raja clarified, "Asking this bill to be referred to a standing committee does not mean delaying the bill. In fact, we try to strengthen the bill.
A group of differently abled people protested outside the Congress office, sloganeering against the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi.
The bill offers 1 per cent reservation in jobs for blind and low vision. Ashu, a visually impaired student at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), tells NDTV, "We want the 1 per cent for totally blind and if the government wants to create a provision for the low vision people that has to be extra from the side of the government of India."
The important question is that will the parliamentarians rise above politics and instead of stalling the house pay attention to an important legislation like this one.