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| Sreelatha Menon: The long wait for rights | | The new law for the differently abled will replace a charity-based approach with a rights-based one |
| Sreelatha Menon / New Delhi Mar 07, 2010, 00:53 IST |
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The year has started well for the differently abled in the country. The ball has been set rolling by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, with this year’s Budget being hailed as the most disabled-friendly of all times for announcing an 80 per cent increase in Plan outlay for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to Rs 4,500 crore.
The specific goals include enabling the ministry to start the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre. The allocation for disabled-friendly schemes has been raised to Rs 398 crore, a sharp rise from the previous year’s spend of Rs 243.29 crore.
The Budget also raised the allocation for schemes for implementing the Disability Act of 1995 to Rs 95 crore, from last year’s Rs 7.5 crore. The allocation for employment of the disabled has been raised over 50 per cent to Rs 7 crore. Also, the direct tax deduction for taking care, including medical treatment, of a dependent with severe disability has been raised from the present limit of Rs 75,000 to Rs 1,00,000.
Another gain for the disabled could be a new law, with the ministry deciding that having a new law was easier than making the estimated 200-odd amendments in the decade-old law. The ministry has been struggling to match the Act with the UN Convention on Rights of Disabled Persons, which the country signed a few years ago. While the UN Convention has a rights-based approach, the Act’s approach is charity-based.
The process is complex. The ministry has taken months to finalise a draft. This is because matching the law with the convention will require at least 100 amendments, as Social Justice Minister Mukul Wasnik admitted to this paper recently. A proper tallying would mean a couple of 100 more amendments, say activists, who are getting impatient as the ministry takes time to make up its mind. The process has already taken two years. The draft amendment Bill has been revised, re-revised and now may be consigned to the dustbin for a fresh legislation.
Recently, Wasnik said at a Parliamentary consultative committee meeting that a new law might be needed. A new draft may take another year and the activists, though delighted, are losing patience.
There is also a move to amend the Mental Health Act as mental illness is not covered by the Disabilities Act. A rights-based approach will redefine this Act too in line with the UN convention.
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