To: Praveen Kumar; aarthindia@gmail.com; Javed Abidi Cc: 'Mathew John'; 'jeevika'; krajuhyd@yahoo.com Subject: RE: Disabilityctand NAC Thanks very much, Praveen. There are many valuable insights here. Can we please meet, along with Radhika, sometime early next week, to plan the next stages of our consultation? Warm regards, Harsh -----Original Message----- From: Praveen Kumar [mailto:Praveen.Kumar@vsoint.org] Sent: Sunday, 11 September, 2011 5:08 AM To: aarthindia@gmail.com; Javed Abidi; manderharsh@gmail.com Cc: 'Mathew John'; 'jeevika'; krajuhyd@yahoo.com Subject: RE: Disabilityctand NAC Dear Harsh, Many thanks for your mail, below are some of my thoughts based on interaction with disabled people and working with groups. Working with rural and urban poor families having members with disability, I have observed that many of them have limited access to food entitlements. Based on various documents it is very much evident that disabled people are going to be left out in the NFSA also which is a direct violation of articles 25 and 28 of the UNCRPD which India has signed and ratified. The following areas in the bill need to be looked at 1. Reference to disability as definition: The definition refers to the persons with disabilities equal opportunities act 1995??? Further, -Whilst the draft had the UNCRPD but in the latest version of the bill there is not even mention of the UNCRPD. It has neglected the National Trust Act 1999. There by automatically excluding people living with autism, cerebral palsy, multiple and mental disabilities. The sections referred to in the earlier draft were below: "AND WHEREAS Articles 5, 25 and 28 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes the special measures required accelerating disabled persons 'de facto equality of access to nutrition" aND WHEREAS Article 41 of the Constitution of India obliges the State to make effective provision for securing the right to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, and in other cases of undeserved want; Chapter I: Preliminary Definitions (h) "Disabled Persons" shall mean persons defined as disabled under the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995; We request the formulators of the act to include the UNCRPD definition which is a more comprehensive definition of disability: Persons with Disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. India has ratified and signed the UN convension on the rights of persons with disabilities and the state is bound to make legislations inclusive of persons with disabilities. 2. Entitlements: CHAPTER IV ENTITLEMENTS OF SPECIAL GROUPS There is no reference to persons with disabilities in the social group. There is only mention of destitute, homeless and disaster affected people. It is estimated that there are 7 crore disabled people in the country and studies show that 70% (5 crore) of these belong to poor families. This is approximately 7% of the population. Even the XI planning commission recognizes 5% disabled population. In these circumstances, the Planning Commission and the National Advisory Council cannot take the risk of excluding the poor families with disabled citizens thereby denying their fundamental rights. This section cannot be neglected particularly due to the discrimination and deprivation faced by disabled people mostly of those with high support needs is much higher. 3. Exclusion in following chapters: Chapter entitlements for pregnant mothers. CHAPTER - V RIGHT OF PERSONS LIVING IN STARVATION CHAPTER - VI RIGHT TO RECEIVE SUBSIDIZED FOOD GRAINS All these sections have no mention of persons with disabilities and has subjected to the schedules, it is not clear if disabled people are one of the priority category. If this is left to states responsibilities it will be a total disaster as disabled people do not rank anywhere in the top. Various studies by the office of the commissioners of the Supreme Court have highlighted the fact that disabled people have less or no access to food entitlements. In this light all these chapters should have specific mention of persons with disabilities. 4. Complaints and grievance redressel mechanism: Article 9 of the UNCRPD directs the states parties to ensure access in physical and communication. In this light the act should recognize the aspects of alternative communication including sign language, use of Braille, e-text and verbal. Chapter X reads: (66)Manner in which complaint shall be made. - A complaint can be made either in writing, or by electronic means in English or in Hindi or in the official language of the area in which the complaint is made: Provided that if such a complaint cannot be made in writing, the District Grievance Redressal Officer shallrender all reasonable assistance to the complainant making the complaint orally to reduce the same to writing. Chapter X to include sign language and alternative mechanisms including use of Braille, verbal complaints, and email for complaints and grievance redressal procedures. 5. Cooked mid day meals and ICDS. Children with disabilities are often neglected in the ICDS programme and do not have access to food entitlements. A SCC study reveals that there is no child with disability population in many anganwadi centres surveyed in many states. There are no outreach programmes or support services for children with siveor disabilities. Community response is not present. There must be convergence of responses at the panchayat level to ensure that food entitlements are accessible and made available to children with disabilities and home based support to severely disable and those with high support needs. Outreach initiatives should be a part of the act to ensure coverage of all persons with disabilities. 6. BPL criteria: Lastly we are unhappy with the proposed BPL criteria for including persons with disabilities "if there is a adult member in the family with a disabled member they will be automatically excluded" we recommend that a family with one or more disabled members be automatically included as BPL and every disabled member considered as a unit rather than the family as a unit. Families who are in the income tax bracket to be excluded from this option. It must be noted that persons with disabilities have aditional costs in terms of care and support needs and transport etc. hence this should be considered as one of the areas for inclusion. The BPL is closely linked to the NFSA and my worry is that even if we get the act sorted if the BPL issue is not sorted we are not getting any where!!! Some of the people you should invite for the consultation if you are planning one are Poonam Natarajan from the National Trust Sneha Mishra from AAINA (Odisha) Goutam Chaudhury SANCHAR (Kolkata) Arun Singh from (Jharkhand Viklang Manch) Ishwar from (Chhattisgarh Viklang Manch) Hope this is useful. I am happy to talk to you regarding this if necessary. Sincerely Praveen -----Original Message----- From: "Harsh" Sent: 06 September 2011 12:08 To: "aarthindia@gmail.com" , "Praveen.Kumar@vsoint.org" , "Javed Abidi" Cc: "'Mathew John'" , "'jeevika'" , "krajuhyd@yahoo.com" Subject: Disabilityctand NAC Dear Radhika, Javed and Praveen, We are proposing that NAC takes up concerns in the sector about the proposed new disability law, in order to support and strengthen your collective efforts. I know we need to move urgently. The idea is to bring together a small group in a round table, and to identify some of the big concerns, which we could try to raise in NAC, and if NAC agrees, we could send these to the PM. Would it be possible for us to meet initially some time very soon, for me to take advice from you - about the big issues, and who we should invite for the consultation. I know Javed is overseas, but maybe we could speak on skype, or you could send me some thoughts by email? Warm regards, Harsh ********************************************************************** VSO is an international development charity that works through volunteers. http://www.vsointernational.org This e-mail and any file/s attached are intended for the addressee only. If you are not the intended recipient please delete this e-mail. The views expressed in this e-mail are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of VSO. 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