Great Job Done Sir. Hats of to you. Regards:
------------------------------ On Mon 15 Oct, 2012 7:06 PM IST avinash shahi wrote: >Hats off to Mr Shobhu Ram >, a prominent activist from H.P., uses the Act to empower others of >his ilk in his State > > >Shobhu Ram— Photo: V. Sudershan Shobhu Ram can be mistaken for just >another visually challenged person, who also works as an announcer in >the Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation, but beneath the >veneer lies a strong fighter for the rights of the disabled in general >and for the rights of the visually challenged in particular. Mr. Ram >is a prominent activist who is using the Right to Information Act 2005 >to empower everybody like him in Himachal Pradesh. > >He was part of the delegation of activists who represented Himachal >Pradesh at the two-day 7th annual convention of the Central >Information Commission (CIC) that culminated on Saturday. > >By using the RTI Act, Mr. Ram has exposed several loopholes and cases >of corruption in the implementation of government schemes for the >visually challenged. For instance, he filed RTI queries and brought >out documents which showed that there are a series of cases where >people who were not visually challenged got the medical certificate of >being “blind” and subsequently got employment in the reserved category >of “visually challenged.” > >Out of around 700 grade II and III jobs reserved for the visually >challenged in Himachal Pradesh, only 447 have been filled, revealed >the State government response to another RTI query by Mr. Ram. >Interestingly when he accessed the employment documents of the 447, it >turned out that at least 300 did not have the educational and medical >records to support their visually challenged claim. > >“I am going to register a complaint with the State Disability >Commission about this fraud going on in the State,” says Mr. Ram, who >formed the “Blind Persons Association” in 1998 to fight for the rights >of the visually challenged. > >Mr. Ram thinks that the Act can be used to ensure that the >marginalised get their due rights but says that even after seven years >of the Act being in force, it has not been properly utilised. The law >also needs to be sensitive to the disabled and visually challenged, he >says. > >“How are we supposed to read the documents which the public >authorities provide me as answers to my RTI query?” he asks, >suggesting that the visually challenged should be provided with RTI >answers and other documents in Braille script. > >Asking the CIC to take cognisance of their special needs, Mr. Ram >argues: “The ideal situation is that everybody has a computer and >scanner with speaking software but at present that is not the case.” > >Asked about the behaviour of the State agencies and public >institutions in Himachal Pradesh, Mr. Ram, who is the first journalism >graduate of his State, says the general pattern is that of “extreme >indifference.” He puts his own example as a case in point. > >When he applied for the post of the District Public Relations Officer >in 2010, he cleared the written stage. But he was rejected by the >panel in the interview round even though he was the only candidate for >the post reserved for the visually challenged. > >Ajai Srivastava, who is an activist working on disabled rights and >whose organisation “Umang Foundation” collaborates with “Blind Persons >Association” on a variety of issues, says: “You fight for your rights >not with people but with mindsets. The usual view plaguing the State >departments is that a 100 per cent blind [person] cannot work. So they >somehow or other reject them in a competition for a job. > > > >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >•Ram reveals a H.P. scam in which people with sight cornered the >benefits of the visually-challenged > >•The view pervading State departments is that a 100% blind person >cannot work: activist Ajai Srivastava >http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/visually-challenged-man-wields-rti-to-surmount-mindsets-expose-graft/article3997765.ece > >-- >Avinash Shahi >MPhil Research Learner >Centre for the Study of Law and Governance >Jawaharlal Nehru University >New Delhi India > > >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 > 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
