India, the homeland for 1.3 Billion people, is emerging as a powerful nation in the fields of economy, defense, and science. The constitutional guarantee of equity is unveiling the hidden talents in the diversified society, where ‘graded inequality’ prevailed for generations. Yet we keep our 50-60 million disabled children behind the closed doors.
Majority of the disabled citizen of this country are living in a murky environment of domestic abuses, sexual assaults and disrespect from the surrounding fellow humans. Ensuing a struggling uprise of a small number of disabled people, a new type of violence transpires in the form of denial of equal opportunity.
Knowing the unease of proper implementation of equality, freedom, justice and dignity for all individuals, our constitution made certain provisions to equalize our society. Article 41 is a perfect example which states that "The State shall, within the limits of its economic capacity and development, make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, and in other cases of undeserved want".
All the constitutional rights including liberty, education, religious and linguistic freedom, participation in government, judicial rights and freedom of having a life with dignity anywhere in India without being a victim of discrimination are equally applicable to disabled citizen. The laws including health laws, family laws, labour laws and succession laws do not exclude persons with disabilities.
Difficulty in distributing constitutional justice for disabled persons has led the government to pass 'The persons with disabilities (PWD) (equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation) act in 1995. The law emphasizes on prevention and early detection of disabilities, education, employment, non-discrimination, research and manpower development, affirmative action, social security, grievance redressal for persons with mental and physical disabilities. Education of disabled children, prevention of violence against women and assurance of 3% reservation in government jobs for disabled citizens are also stressed in this law.
The mental health act,1987, the rehabilitation council of India act,1992 and the national trust for the welfare of persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities act, 1999 are other major laws furnished by the government to fortify the rights of disabled citizens.
PWD act 1995 was the book of jurisprudence for persons with disabilities until India ratified United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD 2006) in 2007. Drawbacks of existing PWD act including the selective recognition of some rights and confinement of disabled persons to certain categories steered the government to pass a revised law. The rights of persons with disabilities act, 2011 is in harmony with UNCRPD which stands for civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights for 'differently abled' persons.
Why do we need the laws timely revised? Do the beneficiaries sum up to 60 million? Still a number of families in India hide the mentally disabled children from the society for maintaining ‘social status’. Society needs to be changed. For that, each and every citizen should see every other one with respect and compassion.
Majority of the disabled citizen of this country are living in a murky environment of domestic abuses, sexual assaults and disrespect from the surrounding fellow humans. Ensuing a struggling uprise of a small number of disabled people, a new type of violence transpires in the form of denial of equal opportunity.
Knowing the unease of proper implementation of equality, freedom, justice and dignity for all individuals, our constitution made certain provisions to equalize our society. Article 41 is a perfect example which states that "The State shall, within the limits of its economic capacity and development, make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, and in other cases of undeserved want".
All the constitutional rights including liberty, education, religious and linguistic freedom, participation in government, judicial rights and freedom of having a life with dignity anywhere in India without being a victim of discrimination are equally applicable to disabled citizen. The laws including health laws, family laws, labour laws and succession laws do not exclude persons with disabilities.
Difficulty in distributing constitutional justice for disabled persons has led the government to pass 'The persons with disabilities (PWD) (equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation) act in 1995. The law emphasizes on prevention and early detection of disabilities, education, employment, non-discrimination, research and manpower development, affirmative action, social security, grievance redressal for persons with mental and physical disabilities. Education of disabled children, prevention of violence against women and assurance of 3% reservation in government jobs for disabled citizens are also stressed in this law.
The mental health act,1987, the rehabilitation council of India act,1992 and the national trust for the welfare of persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities act, 1999 are other major laws furnished by the government to fortify the rights of disabled citizens.
PWD act 1995 was the book of jurisprudence for persons with disabilities until India ratified United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD 2006) in 2007. Drawbacks of existing PWD act including the selective recognition of some rights and confinement of disabled persons to certain categories steered the government to pass a revised law. The rights of persons with disabilities act, 2011 is in harmony with UNCRPD which stands for civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights for 'differently abled' persons.
Why do we need the laws timely revised? Do the beneficiaries sum up to 60 million? Still a number of families in India hide the mentally disabled children from the society for maintaining ‘social status’. Society needs to be changed. For that, each and every citizen should see every other one with respect and compassion.
