Suppose a person with disability lives alone,, can he call on general helpline numbers for the delivery of essentials to his home?
On 3/26/20, Prasanna Pincha <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear friends. > > > > I am happy to share with you comprehensive disability inclusive guidelines > issued by the Ministry of MSD and E, Dept. of Empowerment of Persons with > Disabilities, govt. of India relating to the current situation of > nation-wide lockdown in the aftermath of outbreak of covid 19. The said > guidelines speak for themselves. While I am pasting these set of guidelines > at the foot of this email, I am also sharing with you a letter/email > written > by Secretary of the aforesaid department to all the Chief Secretaries of > all > the states and union territories in a separate mail. > > > > Regards, > > > > Prasanna Kumar Pincha. > > > > > > > > Annexure > > Comprehensive Disability Inclusive Guidelines for protection and safety of > persons with disabilities (Divyangjan) during COVID 19. > > > > In view of the pandemic situation due to the outbreak and rapid spread of > COVID19 across the world, the public health has been endangered both > nationally and internationally, necessitating urgent measures on the part > of > both the Central and State Governments, aimed at containing the spread of > the disease. The Government of India has declared the situation arising out > of COVID 19 as a National Disaster and necessary guidelines have been > issued > under the National Disaster Management Act, 2005. > > 2. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India > being > the nodal Central Ministry on health issues has issued guidelines for > general public as well as health workers to contain the spread of the > disease. These are available on their website (www.mohfw.gov.in > <http://www. > mohfw.giv.in> ) which inter-alia contains:- > > ● Awareness material (both in Hindi and English) for citizens and > frontline workers; > > ● Advisory on mass gatherings and social distancing; > > ● Guidelines and procedure to be followed by hospitals including > telemedicine practices for patient care; > > ● Common Helpline Numbers: 1075, 011-23978046, 9013151515 > > ● Frequently Asked Questions > > > > 3. While COVID 19 is impacting the entire population, persons with > disabilities are more vulnerable to the disease due to their physical, > sensory and cognitive limitations. As such, there is a need to understand > their disability specific requirements, daily living activities and take > appropriate and timely measures to ensure their protection and safety > during > situations of risk. > > 4. Section 8 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 > guarantees equal protection and safety for persons with disabilities in > these situations. It also mandates Disaster Management Authorities at > District/State/National levels to take measures to include persons with > disabilities in disaster management activities and to keep them duly > informed about these. These authorities are mandatorily required to involve > the concerned State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities during > disaster management. In September 2019, National Disaster Management > Authority, Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued National Disaster > Management Guidelines on Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction > (DiDRR) in line with the above provisions. Further, recently on 24th March > 2020, Ministry of Home Affairs has issued guidelines for various > authorities > so as to prevent spread of COVID 19 for a period of 21 days starting from > 25.3.2020. > > 5. While the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family > Welfare and Ministry of Home Affairs are applicable to all citizens, the > following measures are suggested which need to be acted upon by various > State/District authorities to give focused attention to protection and > safety of persons with disabilities during COVID 19. > > > > 6. General action points > > > > ● All information about COVID 19, services offered and precautions to > be taken should be available in simple and local language in accessible > formats; i.e. in Braille and audible tapes for persons with visual > impairment, video-graphic material with sub-titles and sign language > interpretation for persons with hearing impairment and through accessible > web sites. > > ● Sign language interpreters who work in emergency and health > settings should be given the same health and safety protection as other > health care workers dealing with COVID19. > > ● All persons responsible for handling emergency response services > should be trained on the rights of persons with disabilities, and on risks > associated with additional problems for persons having specific > impairments. > > > ● Relevant information on support to persons with disabilities should > be a part of all awareness campaigns > > ● During quarantine, essential support services, personal assistance, > and physical and communication accessibility should be ensured e.g. blind > persons, persons with intellectual/ mental disability (psycho-social) are > dependent on care giver support. Similarly persons with disabilities may > seek assistance for rectification of fault in their wheelchair and other > assistive devices. > > ● Caregivers of persons with disabilities should be allowed to reach > Persons with disabilities by exempting them from restrictions during > lockdown or providing passes in a simplified manner on priority. > > ● To ensure continuation of support services for persons with > disabilities with minimum human contact, due publicity needs to be given to > ensuring personal protective equipments for caregivers. > > ● The Resident Welfare Associations should be sensitized about the > need of persons with disabilities so as to allow entry of maid, caregiver > and other support providers to their residence after following due > sanitizing procedure. > > ● Persons with disabilities should be given access to essential food, > water, medicine, and, to the extent possible, such items should be > delivered > at their residence or place where they have been quarantined. > > ● The States/UTs may consider reserving specific opening hours in > retail provision stores including super markets for persons with > disabilities and older persons for ensuring easy availability of their > daily > requirements. > > ● Peer-support networks may be set up to facilitate support during > quarantine for PwDs ; > > ● Additional protective measures should be taken for persons with > disabilities based on their impairment who need to be given travel pass > during the emergency period and should also be sensitized for their > personal > safety and protection. > > ● Persons with disabilities should be given priority in treatment, > instead they should be given priority. Special care should be taken in > respect of children and women with disabilities. > > ● Employees with blindness and other severe disabilities in both > public and private sector should be exempted from essential services work > during the period as they can be easily catch infection. > > ● On-line counselling mechanism should be developed to de-stress > persons with disabilities as well as their families to cope with the > quarantine period. > > ● 24X7 Helpline Number at State Level be set up exclusively for > Divyangjan with facilities of sign language interpretation and video > calling. > > ● The States/UTs may consider involving Organisation of Persons with > Disabilities in preparation and dissemination of information material on > COVID 19 for use of PwDs. > > > > 7.Mechanism to resolve disability specific issues during the period > > > > (a) State Commissioner for PwDs > > ● The State Commissioners for PwDs should be declared as the State > Nodal authority in respect of persons with disabilities. > > ● They should be the overall in-charge to resolve disability specific > issues during the crisis period. > > ● They will coordinate with State Disaster Management Authority, > Health, Police and other line Departments as well as District Collectors > and > district level officers dealing with persons with disabilities. > > ● They will be responsible to ensure that all information about COVID > 19, public restriction plans, services offered are available in local > language in accessible formats. > > > > (b)District Officer dealing with empowerment of PwDs > > > > ● The District Officer dealing with empowerment of PwDs should be > declared as the District Nodal authority in respect of persons with > disabilities. > > ● He should have a list of PwDs in the District and monitor their > requirements periodically and should have a separate list of persons with > severe disabilities who need high support in the locality. > > ● He will be responsible for resolving the issue within the resources > available and if necessary may take the help of Non-Governmental > Organisations and Civil Society Organisations/Resident Welfare > Associations. > > > > > > ******* > > > > > > > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > 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 > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the > person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. > > -- Mohib Anwar Rafay Phone: +919 555 555 765 Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ 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 Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
