Dear Friends! I am inviting you for a symposium on Rights Of The Persons With Disability: Role Of Law, Media And Education organised by Sambhavana: a group of physically challenged persons. It will be held on 8th of December, 2007 from 9,45 A.M onwards at Room No.22, Arts Faculty University Of Delhi. I am pasting the invitation card and the details of the programme below. Please find time to come for this important event.
With warm regards. Nikhil Jain Focus on the rights of Persons with Disability Very recently, the issue of the rights of differently abled persons has come to light; they have themselves stood up and raised their voice. For anybody else belonging to any deprived section of the society the struggle is almost over when they are given opportunity of admission or employment; but for a physically challenged person the problem doesnt end here. Until and unless they are given enabling conditions they can not show their potentials. The first problem is that of access. Although many organizations make a lot of hew and cry about this yet they all talk about big alterations in the existing structures. Very small things like removing earthen pots and other obstacles from the corridors, putting up stickers in Braille on doors and making land-marks and direction indicators etc do not fall in their agenda. Very recently the DU has spent a lavish sum on renovating the buildings but they have made the ways totally unidentifiable for the visually impaired. The second problem is related to the first: difficulties in the way of education, because without enabling accessability, physically handicapped can not get good education. This is made more aggravating by the fact that disability has a close relationship with poverty. The other major problem is related to the lack of employment. In Punjab and Rajasthan, the visually challenged people were not given any teaching jobs other than music or in blind schools only. After a long struggle undertaken by handicapped persons, the state governments have started recruiting PH teachers in other disciplines. After the PWD act at some places we find 3% reservation for disabled written but actually the story is other way round. Many of the advertisements dont talk of relaxation of eligibility criteria for the disabled. A visually challenged person of U.P. had to wait for fifteen years for getting the job which he deserved and that too he got only when Supreme Court stood in his favor. In the context of International Day on Disability and World Human Rights Day, Sambhavana is going to organize a symposium on the Rights of Persons with Disability: Role of Media, Law and Education with the view to start a well informed discussion on some of these issues and similar others. Sambhavana Sambhavana, meaning possibility came into existence in 2001 when many meritorious candidates were being denied employment as lecturers in various colleges in Delhi University just because of their disability. It was despite the fact that Delhi University has itself passed a regulation in 1994 regarding 3 % reservation for PH candidates in all appointments and in 1996 the parliament has also enshrined for the same in PWD Act; even the high court of Delhi has passed a judgement in favor of such persons in 2001,. DU Claims that there are no meritorious candidates who deserve to be employed on teaching posts. Can anyone ask them if there was any better candidate than Dayal Singh Pawar and Sangeeta Agraval who topped the university in Sanskrit and could not find a place in the teaching cadre? The examples can be multiplied. We organized dharnas to build pressure on university authorities which materialized into success and three visually challenged persons were appointed as lecturers. Now with the intervention of honorable High court, we are successfully pressurizing Delhi University and its various colleges to give persons with disabilities their rightful share in the teaching posts. In February 2005 we met honorable prime minister of India and we could convince him to constitute a group of ministers and a group of secretaries to take care of matters related to disability. The final outcome of our efforts has appeared as the national policy for persons with disabilities. In July 2007 we approached Minister of social justice and empowerment where we raised miscellaneous issues, such as Employment; discrimination in Banking; demand for Social Security, such as Insurance, medical facilities, Housing, uniform Disability Certificates; reservation in promotion and Computer Aid etc. Invitation Sambhavana cordially invites you to a symposium on the Rights of Persons with Disability: Role of Media and Law On Saturday, 8th December 2007 at 9:45 a.m. in Room No. 22, Arts Faculty, Delhi University. Chart Symposium on the Rights of Persons with Disability: Role of Media, Law and Education Registration: 9:45 a.m. onwards Inauguration: 10:00-10:15. Session I: LAW Chair: Manoranjan Mohanti, Prof. (retired), Department of Political Science, Delhi University. SPEAKERS Anita Ghai, Reader, Department of Psychology, Jesus And Mary College: Defining Disability and the Question of Gender. 10:15-10:35. Krishna Mahajan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court: Legal Aspects of the Employment of Differently Abled: Fresh Enactments and New Problems. 10:35-10:55. Ashok Arora, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court: Reservation for the Disabled falls beyond 49.5 % seal on maximum Reservation: Latest Supreme Court Judgment. 10:55-11:15. Panel Discussion: 11:15-11:25. Tea Break: 11:25-11:40. Session II: MEDIA and EDUCATION Chair: Azra Razzack, Professor, Faculty of Education, Jamia Milia Islamiya. SPEAKERS Ajay Kumar Singh, Research scholar and the author of Media, Itihas aur Hashiye ke Log: Disability: Discourse and Exclusion (Vikalangata: Vimarsh aur Bahishkaran). 11:45-12:05. Urmilesh, Astt. Editor, Hindustan (Hindi): Insensitivity of Media towards Persons with Disability. 12:05-12:25. Mastram Kapoor, senior journalist and human rights activist: Spontaneity and Charity: Two characteristics of Media Focus on Disability. 12:25-12:45. Nagama, Compere, Salam Zindagi, ND TV India: Sensitizing Disability and the Role of Electronic Media: Present status and Future Prospects. 12:45-01:05. Nikhil Jain, Lecturer, Political Science, Dayal Singh College and the President of Sambhavana: Vote of Thanks and Resolutions. 01:05. To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
