Hi friends, I am copying hereinbelow some points which can be used in a letter
to the Finance Minister. These were the suggestions sent out by NCDEPD Needless
to say the more letters sent on the same lines the more chances we have of
getting our wishes fulfilled. I donot have the email address but the snail mail
address is here for your convenience. Requesting you to send a copy of your
letter to Secretatiat
E-mail Address(es):
[email protected]
Shri Pranab Mukherjee
Hon’ble Finance Minister
Room No. 134
North Block
New Delhi – 110 001
POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION IN THE UPCOMING UNION BUDGET VIS-À-VIS DISABILITY
There are about 70 million disabled people in the country. Historically,
disability has been viewed as a charity/welfare issue. As a result, most
development plans never included disability.
Rights of people with disability got legal recognition for the first time with
the passage of The Disability Act in 1995. The human rights of disabled people
further got strengthened in India with the ratification of the UN Convention on
Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) on 1st October 2007. The XI Five
Year Plan (2007-12) addresses disability as a cross cutting issue and seeks
every Ministry to have a plan for disability and to allocate at least 3% of the
budget towards the same. However, the implementation of these laws & policies
has been extremely tardy. It has been 2 years since the XI Plan started and
more than a year since the ratification of UNCRPD, but no steps have been taken
so far to implement the provisions given in them.
Union Budget is an important planning activity of the Government. Some of the
initiatives which the Government has planned can be operationalised /
kick-started by allocating adequate resources and making appropriate
announcements in the upcoming Union Budget.
Following are some of the points for consideration with respect to disability
in the upcoming Union Budget:
a.. Disability should be specifically mentioned in the Budget Speech, not as
a charity / welfare issue but as a cross cutting, development, human resource
and a human rights issue.
a.. Each concerned Ministry/Department should reserve not less than 3% of
their annual outlay for the benefit of disabled persons as enjoined in The
Disability Act, 1995 and as clearly stated in the XI Year Plan. The disability
budget and its utilisation should be presented in the Annual Reports of the
Ministries.
a.. Raise the income ceiling for availing assistance under the ADIP Scheme (a
scheme for distributing aids & appliances for disabled people) to Rs. 10,000/-
per month and enhance the ceiling for purchase/fitting of aids and appliances
to Rs. 25,000/- per month, as promised in the XI Plan.
· As already provided in the XI Plan (copy at Annexure 1 for easy
reference), allocate adequate resources and announce the establishment of:
a.. A National Centre to facilitate and support the development of
Universal Design and barrier-free built environment.
o A Sign Language Research and Training Centre devoted to the development
and promotion of sign language and training of teachers and interpreters.
o At least one residential school up to Class XII and one Degree college
for the deaf in every zone to promote their educational development.
o A National Captioning Centre to provide sub-titling and captioning
services.
· A scheme for providing loans to disabled people on concessional terms
by Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Co-operatives for higher
education, self-employment ventures, home loans etc. should be introduced as
mentioned in the XI Plan.
· The Incentive Scheme for Employers that was announced in the last
budget two years ago has not proved very effective. Rs 1800 crore was allocated
and 1 lakh jobs for disabled people promised but it has not resulted in
creating even 100 jobs and the money remains unutilized! A strong/genuine
Incentive Scheme as mandated under Section 41 of the Disability Act 1995 and as
advocated by NCPEDP etc. for the last 3-4 years. ( NCPEDPs suggestions are
given at Annexure 2)
· A Social A Social Security Scheme for People with Mental Disabilities.
Already recommended by the Ministry of Social Justice and lobbied for by the
Parents Group, PARIVAAR etc.
· Income Tax Exemption of only Rs. 50,000 is available to disabled
people (and of Rs. 75,000 in the case of those who are severely disabled i.e.
above 80% disability). It needs to be revised to at least Rs. 100,000 for all
disabled people and to Rs. 150,000 for severely disabled people.
a.. A Scholarship Scheme for deserving persons with disabilities for
training/education abroad.
Kanchan Pamnani
Advocate & Solicitor
9, Suleman Chambers,
Battery Street, Colaba,
Mumbai - 400 039.
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