As the World observes Disabilities Day on 3rdDecember, we would like to
remind the world community that over 600 million people, or
approximately 10 per cent of the world’s population, have a disability
of one form or another. Over two thirds of them live in developing
countries. Only 2 per cent of disabled children in the developing world
receive any education or rehabilitation. The link between disability
and poverty and social exclusion is direct and strong throughout the
world.
India is not far behind as the statistics shows it has over 90 million
disabled persons, barely one percent of whom are employed.
The disability rights debate is not so much about the enjoyment of
specific rights as it is about ensuring the equal effective enjoyment
of all human rights, without discrimination, by people with
disabilities. The non-discrimination principle helps make human rights
in general relevant in the specific context of disability.
Non-discrimination, and the equal effective enjoyment of all human
rights by people with disabilities, is long-overdue reform in the way
disability and the disabled are viewed throughout the world. The
process of ensuring that people with disabilities enjoy their human
rights is slow and uneven. But the good thing is it has started taking
place, in all economic and social
systems. It is inspired by the values that underpin human rights: the
inestimable dignity of each and every human being, the concept of
autonomy or self-determination that demands that the person be placed
at the center of all decisions affecting him/her, the inherent equality
of all regardless of difference, and the ethic of solidarity that
requires society to sustain the freedom of the person with
appropriate social supports.
Global Scenario
Over the past two decades a dramatic shift in perspective has taken
place from an approach motivated by charity towards the disabled to one
based on rights. In essence, the human rights perspective on disability
means viewing people with disabilities as subjects and not as objects.
It entails moving away from viewing people with disabilities as
problems towards viewing them as holders of rights. Importantly, it
means locating problems outside the disabled person and addressing the
manner in which various economic and social processes accommodate the
difference of disability - or not, as the case may be. The debate about
the rights of the disabled is therefore connected to a larger debate
about the place of difference in society.
The shift to the human rights perspective is also reflected in the fact that national institutions
for the promotion and protection of human rights throughout the world
have begun to take an active interest in disability issues. This is
important since these institutions help in providing a bridge
between international human rights law and domestic debates about
disability law and policy reform. National institutions are strategic
partners in the process of change, and their increasing engagement on
the issue of human rights for persons with disabilities is a highly
encouraging sign for the future.
People with disabilities themselves are now framing their long-felt
sense of grievance and injustice into the language of rights. Isolated
injustices need no longer be experienced in isolation. NGOs working
with disability issues such as the collaborative project Disability
Awareness in Action are
beginning to see themselves also as human rights NGOs. They are
beginning to collect and process hard information on alleged violations
of the human rights of persons with disabilities. While still
relatively limited, their human rights capacities are growing. A
similar process of self-transformation is under way within traditional
human rights NGOs, which are increasingly approaching disability
as a mainstream human rights issue. This is important, since these NGOs
have highly developed structures, and the development of a healthy
synergy between disability NGOs and traditional human rights NGOs is
not only long overdue, but inevitable. States parties are demonstrably
moving in the direction of the human rights perspective on disability.
Recent research shows that 39 States in all parts of the world have
adopted non-discrimination or equal opportunity legislation in the
context of disability. States parties’ dialogue with the human rights
treaty bodies is constructive in the context of
their efforts to secure disability reform; a significant amount of good
practice now exists on a worldwide basis, which can be usefully
propagated through the human rights treaty system.
The Indian Experience
The human rights movement in India has boldly and categorically shifted
the attention of policy makers from the mere provision of charitable
services to vigorously protecting their basic right to dignity and
self-respect. In the new scenario, the disabled are viewed as
individuals with a wide range of abilities and each one of them willing
and capable to utilize his/her potential and talents. Society, on the
other hand, is seen as the real cause of the misery of people with
disabilities since it continues
to put numerous barriers as expressed in education, employment, architecture, transport, health and dozens of other activities.
In a country like India the numbers of the disabled are so large, their
problems so complex, available resources so scarce and social attitudes
so damaging, it is only legislation which can eventually bring about a
substantial change in a uniform manner. Although legislation cannot
alone radically change the fabric of a society in a short span of time,
it can nevertheless, increase accessibility of the disabled to
education and employment, to public buildings and shopping centers, to
means of transport and communication. The impact of well-directed
legislation in the long run would be profound and liberating. One out
of every ten people in India suffers from one form of disability or the
other that is they possess physical or mental impairment substantially
limits one or more of major life activities. In
other words, 90 million of our countrymen live with, and learn to
overcome in their own individual ways, problems which non-disabled can
seldom understand. The law should enable not only one in ten people but
also nine out of every ten people to lead their lives to their fullest
potential. The law declares that disability need not be an
insurmountable handicap as long as it can be properly understood and
catered for. The law attempts to eradicate factors which produce low
self-esteem in disabled people and empowers them to confront the
insensitivity and ignorance of others.
The Legal Framework
A comprehensive Act known as Persons with Disabilities (Equal
Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995
(Act 1 of 1996) was unanimously passed by both the houses of Parliament
on 22nd December 1995, which got the assent of the President on 1st
January 1996. The Act has 14 chapters and seeks to:
a) Spell out the state’s responsibility towards prevention of
impairments and protection of disabled people’s rights in health,
education, training, employment and rehabilitation;
b) Work to create a barrier-free environment for disabled people
c) Work to remove discrimination in the sharing of development benefits
d) Counteract any abuse or exploitation of disabled people
e) Lay down strategies for a comprehensive development of programmes
and services and for equalization of opportunities for disabled people;
and
f) Make provision for the integration of disabled people into the social mainstream.
The Act has been in effect from 7th February 1996.
Enforcement
One of the weaknesses of much of the legislation has been that the
enforcement of their provisions has been left to the Courts of Law
without specifying summary procedures to be followed in the event of
proceedings under the respective legislations. This makes it difficult
for persons with disabilities who usually have limited resources and
legal knowledge to participate in complicated, lengthy and expensive
legal process.
At the same the definition of disability as given in 1995 Act needs to
be widen to protect the rights of people suffering from HIV, leprosy
and internal organ failure. Currently the Act gives protection to those
suffering from, blindness, low vision, leprosy cured, hearing impaired,
mental retardation, mental illness and locomotor disability. There are
600 million people in the world, nearly ten percent of the world’s
population, who suffer from one disability or the other. Of these, 90
million are from India. However, even then, the total percentage of the
disabled people in India is just six per cent of its population while
in the developed nation like USA the disabled population’s percentage
is nine percent.
This is not because there are more disabled persons in USA but because
the definition of disability is wider in USA. Besides limited scope,
there are some other lacunae in the act too. There are no guidelines
and no deadlines set for non-adherence. Most government and
semi-government organisations do not strictly follow the guidelines to
reserve three per cent jobs for disabled
and yet they go unpunished. Also, as per the Act the compensation is to
be awarded to a disabled as per the financial capacity of the employer.
The employers often take advantage of this clause. Also, a provision to
award some temporary relieves, till the case is decided, to the
affected (disabled) employee needs to be incorporated. In the age of
growing consumerism and glamour this is how we view them, “Customs
duties on semi-precious stones and raw cultured pearls is 5 percent
while the duty on hearing aids is 15 percent. If cordless phones are
charged only 15 percent duty, the disabled shell out 25 percent as
surcharge on crutches and artificial limbs.”
Conclusion
The act has come a long way since its inception and the real danger now
is that those who had been vigorously demanding its enactment might
become complacent and think that the job has been done. The Act must be
implemented in schools and colleges, in factories and workplaces, in
transport and shopping centers. People with disabilities, and those who
care for them, must ensure that
discrimination is outlawed and barriers are removed as much from the
physical environment as from the attitudes of ordinary people. The real
battle for the right to full citizenship and active participation of
disabled people is ahead. The Act is comprehensive but must be enforced
with sincerity and determination. “What is disability – your frame of
mind is the real disability”. Let us change our attitudes and help to
change others. Make a commitment to end unfair and unfounded
prejudices. Open minds and doors to people with disabilities. Repeat in
speeches, writings and films three words: Disability, Equality,
Liberty. Listen to disabled people. Serve disabled people. Work with
disabled
people. Travel with disabled people. Shop with disabled people. Have
them as friends. Mere changing the Acts and passing legislation’s will
not help. The need is to change the attitude of the society.”
