PIL on Inclusive Education to be listed in court today - Thanks Shampa for sharing

SDRC seeks 3 per cent recservation for disabled in schools
Kolkata | Thursday, Jan 31 2008 IST

Sruti Disability Rights Centre (SDRC) has filed a PIL before the High Court seeking three per cent reservation for students with disabilities in all mainstream educational institutions in the city among other things.

SDRC representative Shampa Sengupta said, '' The Persons with Disabilities Act passed in 1995 advocated that three per cent seats should be reserved for children with disabilities. We want three per cent reservation as per law. We also want all educational institutions should remove architectural barriers to make the institutions disabled friendly. '' ''The PIL will be up for listing tomorrow, '' she said.

SDRC and Child Rights and You (CRY) conducted a survey of 65 schools in Kolkata and found that none of them had a ramp or any infrastructural facility in their buildings to make the institutions disabled friendly.

''The study shows that students with disabilities comprise of only. 16 per cent of government schools, and for private schools it's at .3 per cent, '' she said.

CRY representative Diya Deb said, ''The purpose of the study carried out by the volunteers of Sruti disAbility Rights Centre and Child Rights and You (CRY) underlines the problems faced by the students with disabilities attending mainstream and regular schools.'' ''It reveals how inclusive schools in the city actually are.

This study aims to find out the gap between the policy and the existing situation, which will be used for advocacy purpose, and lobbying with government bodies and school authorities to ensure inclusive education for children with disabilities, '' she said.

-- (UNI)

Source - CCPD- Recommendations to the State Commissioners by CCPD

RECOMMENDATIONS MADE DURING THE SIXTH NATIONAL MEETING OF THE STATE COMMISSIONERS, DISABILITIES HELD ON
2^ND & 3^RD FEBRUARY, 2007

1. The Commissioners of those states/UTs in which all the recommendations of 5^th meeting of Commissioners are yet to be implemented, should take immediate action for doing the needful and submit Action Taken Report to the O/o CCD by 31-03-2007.

Action : Concerned Commissioners, Disabilities and the concerned State Governments Departments

2. ‘Viklang Jan’ should be used in place of the words ‘Nishakat Jan’ in the Act and all other documents, communication, etc., for persons with disabilities.

Action: MSJ&E

3. The suggestions made by CCD for streamlining the procedure for assessment and issue of disability certificate should be circulated to all the Commissioners who should give their comments and further suggestions to MSJ&E (Director DD-III) with copy to the o/o CCD by 28.2.2007. The Committee constituted for the purpose under the Chairmanship of Additional Secretary, MSJE will consider the suggestions of the Commissioners.

Action : O/o CCD and all State Commissioners

4. Every State Commissioner should provide at least one good practice for implementation of any provision of the Act during the year which can be replicated by rest of the States.

Action: All State Commissioners

5. All the State Govts. should consider replication of the Best Practices of the following States:

a. Goa: (i) Incentives to private sector employers:

Ø Rs.500/- pm per employee if monthly salary is Rs.5000/- or more;

Ø Rs.250/- pm per employee if monthly salary is more than Rs.2000/- and less than Rs.5000/-;

Ø Ceiling of maximum 25% of total working staff;

(ii) Disability Pension @ Rs.750/- pm with 5% annual increase;

(iii) Awareness regarding various schemes through running Electronic Board.

b. Karnataka:

(ii) Disability Pension disbursed by Money Order;

(iii) 25 District Disability Adalats by Commissioner;

c. Tamilnadu:

(ii) 2.75 lakh National Identity Cards with Disability certificates being issued by the District Medical Boards

Action: All State Commissioners

6. National Award should be given to the best implementing State and UT on 3^rd December as graded and recommended during the National Review Meeting or any other method that may be adopted by the MSJ&E.

Action : MSJ&E and O/o CCD

7. In addition to the annual National Review Meeting of the State Commissioners, atleast two regional meetings should be held to review the implementation of the Act. The first regional meeting can be held in May – June, and the second in September – October of the year.

Action: O/o CCD

8. If 3% of the funds to be reserved for the benefit of persons with disabilities in various Poverty Alleviation Schemes and other development Schemes of different Ministries/Departments of Govt. of India and State Govts. remain un-utilized, the same should not lapse as in case of North East States.

Action : O/o CCD, MSJ&E and All State Commissioners

9. A National Help Line for persons with disabilities should be set up.

Action : MSJ&E

10. MSJ&E, GOI should provide funds to the States for un-employment allowance to persons with disabilities.

Action : MSJ&E

11. Procedure for availing the financial assistance from the Central Govt. for setting up new institutions for persons with disabilities should be simplified so that more NGOs can be formed where their number is small. Till then, State Govt. departments should be allowed to apply for grants from Central Govt. and implement the schemes. The projects could be transferred to NGOs when they are capable of implementing the schemes.

Action : MSJ&E

12. The State Commissioners should prepare a project proposal for strengthening their offices to undertake all the major four functions of the Commissioner i.e. to coordinate with other departments for the programmes and schemes for the benefit of persons with disabilities, monitor utilization of funds, to take steps to safeguard the rights and facilities made available to persons with disabilities and to redress of the grievances on the basis of complaints as well as suo-motu action. Commissioners of Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Bihar, Gujarat, U.P. and Maharashtra will prepare a model staff structure for the office of State Commissioners. Commissioner, Tamil Nadu will co-ordinate and circulate the structure to all the Commissioners under intimation to the Office of the Chief Commissioner by 28.2.2007.

Action: All State Commissioners

13. Every State Commissioner will develop a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) by persons with disabilities, their parents, families, organizations working in disability sector, civil society and govt. officials with answers and send the same to the O/o CCD by 31^st March 2007. The O/o of CCD will put these FAQs with answers on its website and also publish a document which will be circulated to all the Commissioners. The Commissioners shall, if required, translate the document into the local language and disseminate.

Action: O/o CCD & All State Commissioners

14. Interactive and accessible websites should be developed by all the State Commissioners/Social Justice Departments of the concerned State, which should contain all the information, details of all the schemes for the benefit of persons with disabilities and should be linked to the websites of the concerned departments, Chief Commissioner Disabilities and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Action: All State Commissioners/Social Justice Deptts.

15. For creation of awareness about the facilities for persons with disabilities in rural and remote areas, Commissioner should advise the concerned departments to utilize the Community Radio Programmes, special post cards, etc., to convey important messages, hoardings at bus stops, District Courts, post offices, Panchayat Offices etc.

Action : All State Commissioners

16. Commissioners should make special efforts to ensure that various schemes and programmes for the benefit of persons with disabilities are rural centric and the implementation of such schemes including the Central schemes are ensured in the rural areas.

Action : All State Commissioners

17. State Commissioners should either themselves or through the concerned departments prepare and publish a Disabled Friendly Tourist Guide for the State and circulate to other States. Tourism department/Corporations should also be involved.

Action: All State Commissioners

18. Considering the difficulties experienced by some of the Commissioners in functioning, they should be of the rank of Secretary/Principal Secretary in all the States as recommended last year and should have the powers of HOD.

Action: All State Commissioners

19. As far as possible, at least one special teacher must be ensured in each school. Until this is done, special teacher must be made available in each Block Resource Center.

Action: All State Commissioners

20. B.Ed. (Special Education) should be treated as equivalent to B.Ed. (General Education).

Action : RCI

21. All Commissioners should take up with the State Govt. for setting up of Dept. of Disability Studies in each University.

Action : All State Commissioners

22. The training module as developed by YASADA, Pune, Govt. of Maharashtra for the people working in the disability sector should be replicated in the ATIs of other States. The Commissioners should take up with the concerned departments of the State Govts. Commissioner, Maharashtra will provide a copy of the Module to all the States by 28-02-2007.

Action : All State Commissioners

23. The implementation report and the presentations of the Commissioners in the National/Regional Review Meetings should cover the following:

· Overall status of section wise implementation of the Act along with the actions taken during the reporting period and the Commissioner’s contribution thereto.

· An account of action taken by the Commissioner strictly with reference to his/her functions as per the Act during the reporting period.

· Special achievements during the reporting period.

Action : All State Commissioners

24. There should be no separate/additional relaxation in minimum passing marks in educational examinations for persons with disabilities.

Action: All State Commissioners to take up with State Education Dept.

25. All the State Govts. should ensure representation of persons with disabilities in State Coordination Committees and State Executive Committees as per the provisions of the Act.

Action : All State Govts.

26. Each State should have independent financial institution for persons with disabilities to ensure more flexibility. Discount should be given for prompt re-payment of loans.

Action: MSJ&E and NHFDC

27. Incentive scheme should be designed for Special educators on Multiple Disabilities and each State should have Resource-cum-Training Centre on Disability.

Action: MSJ&E and State Govts.

28. In view of limited presence of private sector in the North East, institutional arrangements for rehabilitation and training should be strengthened by setting up more DDRCs.

Action: MSJ&E

Note 1: The first Action Taken Report will be submitted by all concerned to the O/o CCD by June, 2007 followed by quarterly progress reports as on 30^th September, 2007, 31^st December, 2007 and so on.

Note 2: Implementation of the above recommendations will be considered as one of the inputs for grading the States/UTs.

* * * * *

News Items - Source - DNI

Disabled people threaten to lay siege to Assembly

Hyderabad, February 05: Disabled persons demanding pension of Rs 1500 along with other pending demands are back under MRPS leader and Vikanlangula Hakkula Porata Samiti founder president Manda Krishna Madiga, and this time they threaten to lay 'siege to Assembly' on February 26, if the State Government failed to concede their demands.

Announcing this here today before media, Krishna Madiga said to bring pressure on the State Government, they will also organise 'Siege Collectorates' on February 11 and 'Siege Mandal Offices' on February 16 in the State.

Likewise, in Hyderabad, VHPS will organise relay hunger strikes from February 11 to 25.

VHPS state convenor Kolli Nageshwar Rao said if the State Government still ignores the demands of VHPS, they would be forced to lay Siege Assembly on February 26.

"In this regard, we are also seeking support from weaker section associations, caste organisations, employees federations and students outfits," he added.

Source: http://www.siasat.com/

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A day in court for disabled people

KOLKATA, Feb. 4: In a move to recognise the plight of physically disabled persons, the first Lok Adalat session for cases related to these persons in Barasat sub–division of North 24–Parganas was held at Barasat yesterday. A bench comprising Mr Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, Mr Justice Ranjit Kumar Mitra and Mr Justice Prabir Samanta of Calcutta High Court and Ms Bandana Roy, the chief judicial magistrate of Barasat disposed of 417 cases in the Lok Adalat session.

Most of the complaints that were heard related to cases of harassment in private and state government buses.

Physically disabled persons alleged that most of the time, the seats reserved for them in buses are occupied by ordinary people, who often refuse to vacate the seats.

They also complained to the judges that even after furnishing proof, they are not allowed to have a seat in the buses and face harassment from both co–passengers as well as the bus driver and conductor. They alleged that the worst offenders are the drivers and conductors of state government buses who do not cooperate with them and instead misbehave and use foul language.

Ms Samina Bibi, a resident of Kalapara in Barasat and Ms Nargis Khatun, a resident of Dhokra had come to the court room seeking redressal for their plight. While Ms Phuljehar Bibi, a resident of Matiyar, alleged before the bench that though she has to beg for a living, she has not been provided with any Below Poverty Level (BPL) card.

She also alleged she has been denied a house under the Indira Abasan project.

Ms Bandana Roy, the chief judicial magistrate of Barasat said: "Through this Lok Adalat session we want to convey a message to physically disabled persons that we really want to stand by them. We know that they are subjected to harassment from various quarters and in order to minimise such acts and also to give a ray of hope to these people we organised this Lok Adalat."

Barasat court registrar, Mr Mukul Kundu said the session, the first of its kind, was arranged for swift disposal of cases relating to disabled people

The Lok Adalat session was organised by the legal assistance committee of the Barasat Court and the Calcutta High Court.

Source: http://www.thestatesman.net

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Indian Parliament portal to be disabled–friendly

NEW DELHI, February 04: The Indian Parliament website would soon become disabled–friendly, thanks to a text–to–speech technology to be provided by IBM.

IBM is facilitating to make the portal disabled–friendly, by licensing the technology through the government–owned Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C–DAC).

"IBM has licensed the text–to–speech (TTS) technology through C–DAC for enabling the Indian parliament website. The TTS will be first available in English and is to be extended to other Indian languages starting with Hindi," a highly–placed IBM official told CyberMedia News.

"The TTS technology has been developed at the India Research Labs of IBM in Delhi and is to be integrated with other applications such as WordPad, text pad, spreadsheets and email clients," the official informed.

The TTS technology code named – Shrutlekhan–Rajbhasha is part of IBM and C–DAC's joint research project MANTRA–Rajbhasha.

The joint research project will also ensure accuracy in translation from English to Hindi the domain of administration, finance, agriculture and small–scale industry. The Department of Official Language, under the Home Ministry, is sponsoring the project.

Source: http://www.chennaionline.com

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Job fair for disabled people

CHENNAI: Live Connections, an agency that specialises in placing professionals in various sectors, is organising a job fair for disabled persons at MCC Higher Secondary School, Chetpet, on Saturday.

The event titled 'Livenable–08' is a non–profit initiative and aims to provide a platform for disabled job seekers.

Several corporates from fields such as information technology and banking would participate in the fair. Entry is free for the event, said a press release.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/02/stories/2008020258030200.htm

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World Bank Report - Thanks Murali for Sharing

Disabled are among the most excluded

Estimates vary from 40 to 90 million people in India: World Bank report

• Households with disabled significantly poorer than average
• Private sector incentives for hiring disabled people found to be few

V. Jayanth

CHENNAI: Children with disability are around four or five times less likely to be in school than the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe children, says a recent World Bank report “People with Disabilities in India: From commitments to outcomes.”

“People with Disabilities are among the most excluded in society,” notes the report. With better education and more access to jobs “India’s 40 million to 90 million disabled people can generate higher growth, which could benefit the country as a whole.” What is more, it says that people with disabilities are also victims of “multiple deprivations.”

Households with disabled members are significantly poorer that average, with lower consumption and fewer assets. Disabled adults also have far lower employment rates than the general population-down from 43 percent in 1991 to 38 percent in 2002, even amidst high economic growth. This the report points out, “despite the fact that studies show that disabled employees have extremely good performance rates.”

Some of the findings of the report are: There are substantial differences in socio-economic outcomes, social stigma and access to services by disability type, with those with mental illness and mental retardation in a particularly poor position. There are also major urban-rural differences in outcomes. Gender, class, and regional variations are also significant in many cases. There is growing evidence that people with disabilities comprise between four and eight percent of the Indian population around 40 to 90 million people.

Estimates suggest that disability due to communicable disease could be halved between 1990 and 2020, but disability due to injuries/accidents is set to double by then. A more than 40 percent increase in the share of disability due to non-communicable diseases has also been projected.

The educational attainment rate of the disabled are much lower- with 52 percent illiteracy against a 35 percent average for the general population.

Illiteracy is high among children across all categories, even in the best performing States. A significant share of out-of-school children is those with disabilities: Kerala has 27 percent and Tamil Nadu over 33 percent. Private sector incentives for hiring disabled people are found to be few and piecemeal.

In the late 1990s, employment of people with disability among large private firms was only 0.3 percent of their work force. Among multinational companies, the situation was far worse, with only 0.05 percent representation for them.

In early 2006, the government approved a national policy on Persons with Disabilities.

Till now, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka are the only States to have a draft disabilities policy.

The Chhattisgarh draft policy can be considered ‘best practice,’ and could provide a model for future national and state-level policy development.

The report has called for additional policy measures such as preventive care for both mother and child, identifying people with disabilities as soon as possible after onset, and getting all children with special needs into school.

Advocacy Training in Trichy - Thanks Murali for sharing

6th Feb 2008.


Dear Friend,

Warm greetings from THIRAMAI,

This is to invite the Activists(Persons with Disabilities) from your area for the Leadership Camp being organized on the 29thFeb and 1st march 2008 in Trichy for two days. This programme is organized to build the capacity of the Persons with disabilities to strengthen their Network in the Coastal belt.
The residential programme is jointly hosted by SFC(AAI) and THIRAMAI, the Collective of PWDs in the coastal and rural areas. Travel, Food, Accomodation and Training cost would be provided by us. We request you to depute two potential Activists(preferably one male and one female) identified by you for the programme and confirm the same by 16th February so as to enable us to make the necessary arrangements. Those who sent Activists for the previous programme are requested to identify new set of people and send them for this programme.

DETAILS:

DATES:-
29TH FEBRUARY & 1ST MARCH
VENUE:-
Tamilnadu Social Service Society
35-B, Marsingpet Road,
Trichy - 620 001.
Tel: 0431-2462784, 2417450
(PARTICIPANTS ARE REQUESTED TO REACH THE VENUE BY 28TH EVENING ITSELF)
LAND MARK:-
Take bus from Trichy Central Bus Station via Palakarai and get down at Marsingpet near St. Marys’ Womens’ Hostel.

Looking forward to your response,


Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

(P. Murali)
Team Leader,
THIRAMAI.
Mob:98402 82676

Major event ahead for DLU

Disability Legislation Unit, South along with HRLN and KAARO is conducting a State Level Law Workshop in Bangalore on 29.03.08. Those who are interested in being a part of the Workshop, kindly block your dates for being a part of it.