Letters: Need for a new law

With reference to the editorial, "Keeping abreast" (October 23), the national judicial education strategy should have included disability and litigation. Given that India ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities way back in 2007, inclusion of disabled litigants in the strategy would help them, particularly in divorce cases. Should a petitioner be granted divorce on the grounds of cruelty, if the respondent is a disabled person? Courts should be extra cautious in granting divorce when one of the two parties is a disabled person.

The government has launched the Accessible India campaign as part of which companies - both in the private and public sectors - will be rated for disabled-friendly initiatives. There should not be any discrimination against employees with disabilities. India needs a new law for disabled people, along the lines of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Unfortunately, the Indian law, Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, is weak in its enforcement.

One hopes that things change for the better given that a few companies in the India have already initiated steps in this direction.

Deendayal M Lulla, Mumbai

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