Thanks to Amar Pawar for kickstarting this unified response from the disability sector and its allies, to recent atrocious ableism exhibited in public by government representatives.
To endorse our unified response, please fill the form at http://bit.ly/endorse-joint-response The online version <https://bit.ly/joint-response-to-IAS-ableism> of the document with updated endorsements can also be viewed as machine readable (and translateable) text at https://bit.ly/joint-response-to-IAS-ableism-html Do share this email widely so our protest can be registered. --- [image: Logo of We the People (with disabilities) of India - where yellow and blue quote marks with disability symbols intersect to form green common area.] July 25, 2024 JOINT RESPONSE TO ‘Fake certification’ And Calls for Review of Reservation Policy In the past week, senior bureaucrats - Mr. Amitabh Kant (G20 Sherpa) and Ms Smita Sabharwal, Member Secretary, Finance Commission, Telangana (IAS Telangana Cadre) - have brazenly expressed in public <https://web.archive.org/web/20240726062052/https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/india/g20-sherpa-amitabh-kant-smita-sabharwal-upsc-disability-quota-1.9748191> their prejudicial, stereotyping and stigmatizing opinion about reservations in jobs for persons with disabilities (PwDs). Reservation for transgender persons has also been targeted for ‘review.’ We, the undersigned, condemn their prejudicial perspective in the strongest possible terms, as being violative of the principles of human dignity of PWDs guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution and upheld by the Supreme Court in the Jeeja Ghosh judgement <https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/jeeja-ghosh-v-union-of-india-405231.pdf> . We collectively affirm that the statements given by both senior bureaucrats not only strengthen the attitudinal barriers faced by the disabled community but in the process also delegitimize affirmative policies, which are already inadequate and inconsistently implemented. It goes without saying that statements by officers having millions of followers online and off, are likely to prejudice the perspective of non-disabled individuals and influential stakeholders. These coloured perspectives are also an onslaught on the principles of disability justice, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodations, ensured after multiple forms of struggle by generations of disabled Indians. The Central Civil Service (Conduct) Rules 1964 <https://dopt.gov.in/sites/default/files/CCS_Conduct_Rules_1964_Updated_27Feb15_0.pdf>, which regulates the All-India Services, under Rule 3, Sub-rule (1), make it binding on a civil servant or government functionary to strictly abide by the code of ethics by inculcating the virtues of integrity, impartiality and non-discrimination. Provisions under sub-rule (1) of Rule 3 demand accountability from the officers to refrain from doing anything that is contrary to any law, rule, regulation and established practices. Furthermore, under Rule 9, sub rule (1), civil servants are prevented from making via public utterance, “any statement of fact or opinion - (i) which has the effect of an adverse criticism of any current or recent policy or action of the Central Government or a State Government”. The statements made by these senior serving bureaucrats, therefore, are a clear violation of the above provisions – in fact the Government’s reservation policy for disabled Indians dates back to 1977, even before OBC reservation. We, the undersigned, believe there are proven cases of fake certification of disability and its usage to claim disability reservations. However, we also caution that the zeal to crack down on ‘fake certification’ should not lead to delegitimizing of the fair claims of disabled individuals. Instead, the loopholes in the process of disability certification should be plugged on a continuous and consistent basis, mindful of the global vow of ‘Nothing About Us, Without Us’. Those indulging in corrupt practices, should be proceeded against promptly, firmly and transparently. However, care should be taken not to unduly harass people with legitimate claims. The unwillingness of Kant and Sabharwal to back down from their contentious and provocative viewpoints despite public condemnation, makes a case for mandatory diversity and implicit bias training to ensure a ‘culture of civil rights, diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, transparency and accountability’. The urgent implementation of the Guidelines for Awareness Generation and Publicity and in-Service Training of key Functionaries of Central, State governments and Local Bodies and other Service Providers <https://cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s3e58aea67b01fa747687f038dfde066f6/uploads/2023/11/20240131691811532.pdf> effective from 19th January 2024, is also sought to restore the confidence of disabled citizens that the hitherto insidious ableism of Government servants that has come to light, will be addressed so as to equip ‘enlightened, efficient and committed key functionaries to further the cause of empowerment of Persons with Disabilities’. The suggestions of Mr Kant and Ms Sabharwal to review or exclude Union of India’s horizontal reservation (which serves as a remedy to address often masked ‘deep-rooted social prejudice’) are irresponsible and ‘grounded in exclusion’. We as a society must reflect on Justice DY Chandrachud’s observations in the 2019 Supreme Court B.K. Pavitra judgement <https://indconlawphil.wordpress.com/2020/12/22/horizontal-reservations-and-the-persistence-of-the-myth-of-merit/> : “Efficiency of administration in the affairs of the Union or of a State must be defined in an inclusive sense, where diverse segments of society find representation as a true aspiration of governance by and for the people. … Our benchmarks will define our outcomes. If this benchmark of efficiency is grounded in exclusion, it will produce a pattern of governance which is skewed against the marginalised. If this benchmark of efficiency is grounded in equal access, our outcomes will reflect the commitment of the Constitution to produce a just social order.” The significance of the representation and involvement of people with disability in decision making roles needs to be underlined to achieve genuine equality of opportunity of a class that continues to experience existing structural and institutional disadvantage without further exacerbation by thoughtless, poorly researched public commentary by prominent personalities. The recent societal and institutionalised weaponising of terms like capability, fitness, capacity, sound mind, stability as antonyms of disability is a dangerously dehumanising trend and a threat to the disabled Indian’s autonomy. Invalidating participation whether to fly, educate oneself, adopt, be employed, consent or make decisions flies in the face of the required default assumption of competence of the disabled individual who declares themselves equal to a task. To borrow from Ruth Bader Ginsberg on historically similar discrimination against women, disability is a naturally inevitable characteristic that ‘has been made the basis for unjustified or at least unproved assumptions, concerning an individual’s potential to perform or to contribute to society’. Scores of disabled Indian pioneers who precede us have taught us boundaries are meant to be pushed for individuals to achieve or accomplish in diverse ways and to succeed in being or doing. Those who choose not to support us should get out of the way of those of us doing the ‘impossible’. ------------------------------ -- 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.. 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