Recommendations of the National Conference on Disability and Human Rights held on 23 June 2005
According to the 2001 Census Report, there are an estimated 2.19 million people in India with either temporary or permanent disability of varying degrees. Social, cultural, attitudinal and structures barriers often handicap their lives.
The National Conference on Disability held on 23rd day of June 2005 organized by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India emphasizing on the recognition of 'rights of persons with disabilities' makes the following recommendations for better protection of rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.
Government of India / State Governments
· The Government may consider instituting a National Task Force on accessible infrastructure by persons with disabilities ensuring all public places, transport systems, media and public information are redefined and delivered on disability norms.
· To keep disability under the spotlight, the GOI may consider instituting an independent Department of Disability and Development (DDD) on the lines of Department of Women and Child Development with the Union Minister having an independent charge.
· The Central Coordination Committee and the State Coordination Committees under the Disability Act, 1995 in pursuance of their mandatory obligations should elaborate a National/State Disability Policy and Action Plan to enable persons with disabilities effectively enjoy all the rights and benefits guaranteed under the law and at the same time it should enable the Government at all levels to perform its mandatory functions and effectively utilize budget allocated for the disability sector.
· The Government of India should take urgent steps towards appointing a disability advisor in all the premier institutions such as Planning Commission, UGC, UPSC, Railway Board, Postal Board, Telecom Board, Prasar Bharati Corporation, National Commissions for Women, SCs, STs, Minorities, Election Commission etc. All the new Commissions under consideration should ideally have a Member / Commissioner or at least a disability advisor.
· Developmental Ministries and Departments in Government of India, State Governments and UT administrations should designate a nodal officer on Disability assisted by a panel of experts from disability sector to ensure inclusion of a disability perspective in all respects of their functioning such as planning, execution and monitoring.
· The Government of India and its counterparts in the States should put in place a formal mechanism by which proposals for the enactment of new laws or amendments are examined and firmed up, ensuring a disability inclusive legislative framework.
· The Government of India and its counterparts in the States should promote a dynamic and context-specific policy on human rights education, capable of incorporating evolving content of rights and correlated duties towards disadvantaged groups such as persons with disabilities.
· The Government of India and their counterparts in the States should introduce a s disability component in all their training initiatives aimed at public administrators and all the field functionaries.
· The Government of India should seriously consider nominating at least one person with disability in Parliament, which is the apex institution of this large democracy, but does not have even a single representative of the disabled.
· The Government of India through its national institutions in various fields of disability should develop and incorporate the concept of human rights, social justice and well-being in all the training programmes aimed at rehab workers, parents and persons with disabilities.
Bar Council, Law Schools /Universities
· Bar Council, the Law Schools and the leading universities should urgently coordinate action towards incorporating disability perspective in all the formal and non-formal courses in Law and Human Rights. Simultaneously, an optional paper in disability, Human Rights and Law should be introduced at the graduate level.
· The Indira Gandhi National Open University and its counterparts in the States should gear up the distance-education to enable the practitioners in various fields to respond adequately to the difference that disability represents. This initiative should benefit lawyers, judicial officers, teachers, personnel officers, HR managers, development planners, bankers, social workers, web designers, software engineers, doctors, nurses, architects etc.
Educational / Training Institutes
· UGC, RCI, NCTE and NCERT should actively assist the institutions under their jurisdiction to reform the course curriculum in the field of law, management, social work, education, architecture, medicine, nursing, engineering, statistics, history, sociology, developmental economics etc. with a view to incorporating a disability component.
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The National Conference on Disability held on 23rd day of June 2005 organized by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India emphasizing on the recognition of 'rights of persons with disabilities' makes the following recommendations for better protection of rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.
Government of India / State Governments
· The Government may consider instituting a National Task Force on accessible infrastructure by persons with disabilities ensuring all public places, transport systems, media and public information are redefined and delivered on disability norms.
· To keep disability under the spotlight, the GOI may consider instituting an independent Department of Disability and Development (DDD) on the lines of Department of Women and Child Development with the Union Minister having an independent charge.
· The Central Coordination Committee and the State Coordination Committees under the Disability Act, 1995 in pursuance of their mandatory obligations should elaborate a National/State Disability Policy and Action Plan to enable persons with disabilities effectively enjoy all the rights and benefits guaranteed under the law and at the same time it should enable the Government at all levels to perform its mandatory functions and effectively utilize budget allocated for the disability sector.
· The Government of India should take urgent steps towards appointing a disability advisor in all the premier institutions such as Planning Commission, UGC, UPSC, Railway Board, Postal Board, Telecom Board, Prasar Bharati Corporation, National Commissions for Women, SCs, STs, Minorities, Election Commission etc. All the new Commissions under consideration should ideally have a Member / Commissioner or at least a disability advisor.
· Developmental Ministries and Departments in Government of India, State Governments and UT administrations should designate a nodal officer on Disability assisted by a panel of experts from disability sector to ensure inclusion of a disability perspective in all respects of their functioning such as planning, execution and monitoring.
· The Government of India and its counterparts in the States should put in place a formal mechanism by which proposals for the enactment of new laws or amendments are examined and firmed up, ensuring a disability inclusive legislative framework.
· The Government of India and its counterparts in the States should promote a dynamic and context-specific policy on human rights education, capable of incorporating evolving content of rights and correlated duties towards disadvantaged groups such as persons with disabilities.
· The Government of India and their counterparts in the States should introduce a s disability component in all their training initiatives aimed at public administrators and all the field functionaries.
· The Government of India should seriously consider nominating at least one person with disability in Parliament, which is the apex institution of this large democracy, but does not have even a single representative of the disabled.
· The Government of India through its national institutions in various fields of disability should develop and incorporate the concept of human rights, social justice and well-being in all the training programmes aimed at rehab workers, parents and persons with disabilities.
Bar Council, Law Schools /Universities
· Bar Council, the Law Schools and the leading universities should urgently coordinate action towards incorporating disability perspective in all the formal and non-formal courses in Law and Human Rights. Simultaneously, an optional paper in disability, Human Rights and Law should be introduced at the graduate level.
· The Indira Gandhi National Open University and its counterparts in the States should gear up the distance-education to enable the practitioners in various fields to respond adequately to the difference that disability represents. This initiative should benefit lawyers, judicial officers, teachers, personnel officers, HR managers, development planners, bankers, social workers, web designers, software engineers, doctors, nurses, architects etc.
Educational / Training Institutes
· UGC, RCI, NCTE and NCERT should actively assist the institutions under their jurisdiction to reform the course curriculum in the field of law, management, social work, education, architecture, medicine, nursing, engineering, statistics, history, sociology, developmental economics etc. with a view to incorporating a disability component.
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