August 24, 2021
Shri Virender Kumar ji Namaskar. This is with regard to one of the two Gazette Notifications issued on August 18, 2021 by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under your Ministry. The said notification (herein referred to as first notification) I refer to, grants blanket exemption to several central police forces from the 4 per cent reservations mandated by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. This is patently a misuse of the clause for exemptions included in the law. Even at the time of its framing, the CPI(M) and many others, along with activists in the disability sector had warned of its misuse. It was then assured that it is intended to permit exemptions only for posts in combatant roles. In fact, the second notification issued by your Ministry is for exemptions in combatant roles which further highlights the injustice of blanket exemptions for all police forces in all posts in your first notification. You are well aware that at present many posts in various departments in the police forces mentioned in the first notification are already occupied and responsibilities being fulfilled by persons with disability in various departments including in clerical jobs, IT, etc. There are no complaints about the way they are discharging their roles. In 2019, a post for Head Constable (Ministerial) was advertised by the Delhi Police as being reserved for persons with disabilities. It is an insult and demeaning to people with disability to exempt them from posts and responsibilities they are quite capable of fulfilling. I request you to intervene on this issue and withdraw the said first notification without delay. With regards, Yours sincerely, Brinda Karat *Shri Virendra Kumar* *Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment* *Government of India* -- National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) 36, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla Lane New Delhi 110 001 Tel. 11-23387674; 9868768543 -- 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.. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AccessIndia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/CAGWwanevgepoGJsji_i%2Byewe8g4i9zH93kjTyb%3Drkuj4VLx5JQ%40mail.gmail.com.
