Affiliates menu

Section 3: Compliance to Standards

Note #12
The Shadow Report

Disaggregating policy commitments is extremely important, because it is through this process that implementation is effectively achieved. One of the most important features of the Tenth Five Year Plan was that it advocated the introduction of a Composite Plan for the Disabled in the budget of all the concerned Ministries/Departments for this purpose12. If Ministries like those for education, railways, roadways, rural development, urban development, labour, communication and information technology, civil aviation, tourism, information and broadcasting, and various Commissions for child rights/women's rights /human rights/minorities, etc, allocated a percentage of their annual budget to the implementation of the concerned provisions of The Persons with DisabilitiesAct, 1995, or initiated of new schemes/facilities for disabled citizens, the face of the country would change. However, none of the Annual Reports of various Central Ministries mentioned the Composite Plan, as envisaged by the Tenth Plan.

Note #13
Office of The Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities site
Note #14
A writ petition to reinforce the enforcement powers of Chief Commissioner of Disability
Note #15
2007 (2) KLT 797
Note #16
CASE NO WP(C) No.2869 of 2003
Note #17
2000 (3) LLJ 339

The office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons With Disabilities13 is responsible for investigating complaints of deprivation of rights of persons with disabilities and non-implementation of laws and rules at all levels of the state. It has been able to ensure with a fair degree of success that the rights of persons with disabilities with respect to education and employment are not violated particularly by public employers. In addition the Supreme Court has held that persons with disabilities can claim specific protection under the equality code of the Constitution of India. In the Dalip Kumar decision14, by upholding the primacy of the Persons with Disabilities Act as lex specialis over general legislation, the court went a step further in delineating the non-negotiable elements of nondiscrimination with reference to persons with disabilities. In 2007, the Kerala High Court ruled similarly in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited vs Chief Commissioner For Persons With Disabilities 15 that the Commissioner is entitled to investigate grievances regarding deprivation of rights of persons with disabilities. Several cases, including Secretary (Education) and others v Mukesh Chand 16 (2003) and Baljeet Singh vs Delhi Transport Corporation 17 (Delhi High Court, 2000), have also reinforced the basic authority of the Persons with Disabilities Act, ensuring that those individuals whose rights have been violated have access to an effective remedy of the situation.

Note #18
2008 (1) KarLJ 53
Note #19
2001 (90) DLT 36

In several cases, courts have also imposed sanctions on institutions that have neglected to comply with legislation protecting the rights of the disabled, including Secretary, Primary and Secondary Education Department, Bangalore and Others vs Nagaveni M.C. and Another 18 (Karnataka High Court), 2008 and Pushkar Singh and Others vs University of Delhi and Others 19 (Delhi High Court), 2001.

Note #20
2006 (1) CLR 717

Not all rulings have been as supportive of the rights of persons with disabilities, however. In Sunil Raosaheb Narke vs Air India and Another 20 (Bombay High Court, 2006), the court ruled in favor of the petitioner, but neglected to impose sanctions and dismissed the case with only an advisory in favor of the rights of the disabled. Further, in the case of Ratheesh Babu. G vs. University Grants Commission 21 (Kerala High Court, 2004), the Court did not rule in favor of requiring the State Government to make reservations for persons with physical disabilities in certain categories in government service.

Note #21
W. A. No. 1347 of 2004

Section 33 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 provides for a reservation of 3% in the vacancies in identified posts (1% each for persons with blindness or low vision, hearing impairment and locomotor disability or cerebral palsy) in Government establishments including the Public Sector Undertakings.

Section 41 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 provides for incentives to employers to ensure that at least five percent of their work force was composed of persons with disabilities.

The National Policy for Persons with Disabilities, which was adopted in 2006 also lays down that pro-active measures will be taken to provide incentives, awards, tax exemptions etc. to encourage employment of persons with disabilities in private sector.

However, the Shadow Report on the status of persons with disabilities raises several concerns. The Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, provides for 3% reservation in jobs of Government establishments and Public Sector Undertakings in identified posts. However, the available annual reports of Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment or the Ministry of Labour provide no information on the status of its implementation in the past four years in terms of the percentage of disabled persons employed in Government services. While lakhs of disabled people remain on the live registers of employment exchanges, the Government manages to place only about 4,000 disabled people every year into jobs through its Employment Exchanges. Apart from these, there are thousands of others, who are either under-employed, do not have information about these employment exchanges, or find them unapproachable in terms of access, language, attitudes, etc. Many others are registered with private placement agencies.

In the entire country, there are only 17 Vocational Rehabilitation Centres (V.R.C.) run by the Government for disabled people. While 30,390 clients were admitted during 2003, the number of clients rehabilitated was only 9,292. People with disabilities continue to be trained in spice-making, cane-weaving, candle making, block printing and the manufacture of stationary items, whether in Government or in non-governmental organisations. Year after year they are trained in skills that do not help them to earn a decent living. The training does not match the skill/ qualification requirement in the job market. Even for self-employment, other relevant skills like purchase of raw material, marketing, functional literacy and numeracy, banking, etc. are neglected.

top