THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER LATTER TO THE INDIAN PRIME MINISTER Ref.No.01-9/CCD/2011 Dated: 28th February, 2014 Respected Prime Minister I am the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities appointed by your government. I am writing to you because of certain recent developments, which could cause both national and international embarrassment to the country and therefore your personal intervention is necessary. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment introduced the Rights to Persons with Disabilities Bill 2014 in the Rajya Sabha in January. The Bill was introduced in fulfilment of our international commitment to bring the Indian law in conformity with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which India has since ratified. A large number of disability rights activists found the Bill to fail on the CRPD standard and consequently the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha referred the Bill to a House Committee. Subsequently, a number of rumours started to float that the government intends to bring the Bill in the shape of an ordinance, which was problematic because disability rights is not an unoccupied legislative field. The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 already controls the area. If the Bill of 2014 is promulgated as Ordinance, it cannot become operable unless the Act of 1995 is repealed. The Act of 1995 has empowered a series of individuals, bodies and authorities to implement the statute; all these entities would become dysfunctional if the Act of 1995 is repealed but there would be no time to establish and render functional the new authorities because an ordinance can remain operable for a maximum period of seven and a half months without obtaining parliamentary approval. The enactment of the Bill through the Ordinance route will obtain no benefit to the 13 new impairments, which the Government intends to include in the Ordinance; but would create an enforcement vacuum even for the disabilities already included in the 1995 Act. I have also come to know that the government is not planning to promulgate the Disability Bill of 2014 as an Ordinance but is planning to promulgate an Ordinance for the limited purpose of amending the Persons with Disabilities Act of 1995 by including impairments which have been long excluded from the benefit of the law. This amendment of the definition of disability in the Act of 1995 will be supported by the entire disability community. However since no statement has been issued by the government on the substantive content of the Ordinance that is to be promulgated and the enactment of Bill as Ordinance would cause irreparable harm to persons with disabilities, they have been agitating against the Ordinance in the length and breadth of the country. Some of them I am given to understand were injured in police lathi charge whist agitating outside the AICC and the Congress Vice-Presidents office. Whilst the Indian media has not covered the occurrence (except The Hindu dated 28.02.2014), it has been widely covered in the social media and I am receiving innumerable calls and e-mails from colleagues outside the country as to how a country which has ratified the CRPD can so deal with its persons with disabilities. In the circumstances, I am writing to urge your office to issue a statement that the proposed Ordinance only aims to amend the Act of 1995 and not to enact the Disability Rights Bill of 2014. This statement from your office will restore peace and assuage the tempers of a highly agitated community and also give out a clear message to the international community that India is totally sworn to its international commitments. I am sir, the first person with disability who has been appointed as the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities and am committed to the cause both personally and officially. I would be more than willing to brief you in person in the matter, if I am granted an appointment. With warm regards, Yours Sincerely, ( P .K. Pincha ) Shri Manmohan Singh Honble Prime Minister of India, South Block, Raisina Hill, *New Delhi - 110 011* Copy to: Honble Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt. of India, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi-110001 to read newspapers statements and view the pictures Please click the following link https://dl.dropboxusercontent/u/53570074/fwdpressstatementdisableinjuredinlathicharge.zip --
Posted on: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 08:51:37 +0000
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