HC notice to govt on plea for assistance to disabled boy

The Delhi High Court today sought the response of the Centre and the Delhi government on a plea seeking monetary assistance for a prosthetic limb to a 15- year-old boy with disabilities.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and C Hari Shankar asked the Delhi government, the union ministries of Social Justice and Empowerment and that of Women and Child Development to file their reply within three weeks on the plea seeking Rs 13 lakh for a prosthetic limb to a class 10 student of an aided school here.
The court posted the matter for hearing on September 26.

The plea, filed by an NGO Social Jurist through advocate Ashok Agarwal, said the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 mandates the governments to provide assistive devices to students with benchmark disabilities free of cost upto the age of 18 years.
The petition said the boy was suffering from Bilateral Elbow disarticulation (Congenital Deficiency)and both his hands are disarticulated since his birth.
The plea claimed that the parents of the child cannot afford to pay Rs 13 lakh for the prosthetic limb.
"It is submitted that section 17(g) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 clearly provides that the appropriate government and the local authorities shall take measure for providing appropriate assistive devices to the students with bench mark disabilities free of cost," it said.

"The state is bound to protect the said right and to provide all the means and materials to achieve the said right. The prosthetic limb and machine required to be attached to Master Ritik are essential for his education and same is an assistive device which will help him in furthering his education," the plea added.