Governments, parties neglecting disabled citizens: CPI-M Thaindian News New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Monday accused the successive governments and the mainstream political parties of neglecting disabled citizens. "Successive governments and mainstream political parties have utterly failed disabled citizens by ignoring and neglecting their issues," said CPI-M politburo member Brinda Karat, while releasing the party's pamphlets for women, Dalits, tribals and disabled here.
"The Congress-led government's slogan of 'inclusive growth' rings hollow when seen in relation to the rights, needs and requirements of the disabled or differently abled population in India, even though they constitute at least six percent of the population," she said. According to the CPI-M, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's record on providing job opportunities for the disabled had been dismal. It noted Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had announced a scheme of providing 100,000 jobs per annum to persons with disabilities, with a proposed outlay of Rs.18 billion (Rs.1800 crore) during the 11th Plan in the 2006-07 Budget. However, Chidambaram himself admitted some time later that "not a single recruitment has been made six months after the scheme was announced," the CPI-M said. The CPI-M called for a special employment guarantee scheme to be designed for disabled people in all parts of the country that provides them suitable employment, ensuring at least minimum wages throughout the year. The Persons With Disabilities (PWD) Act provides three percent reservation in jobs in all government and public sector units for the disabled. The share of the disabled against the total strength in actual terms is barely 0.44 percent as against their estimated population of 5-6 percent, it said. 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
