Times of India 30.08.2013 Help cancer survivors get disabled tag.
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Thursday observed that the Central Coordination Committee for persons with disabilities is expected to play a proactive role while hearing a petition for declaring cancer-cured persons as disabled. A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha heard a petition by Solapur resident Vinod Tambe, who was diagnosed with blood cancer in 1977 at the age of seven. On March 16, 2005, he was issued a certificate by a hospital declaring him "cancer-cured handicap". His petition said a 1983 government circular directed registration of cancer survivors as handicapped. The government filed an affidavit stating that the circular was superseded by the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. It added that the definition of disability listed under the legislation does not cover Tambe's case. Advocate Advait Sethna, appearing for the Centre, said the present definition of disability under the Act does not include cancer. "Even on the face of it, it does not pass the test of 40 per cent disability required under the present law. The hospital certificate (issued to Tambe) does not talk about the percentage of disability," said Sethna. He said the present law has no scope for inclusion of more categories but the Right of Persons with Disabilities Bill is going to be placed before the Cabinet. "It has been approved by various state governments and is now at a stage where ministries and departments are giving their comments. As of now it is difficult to make a statement if a particular category can be included," said Sethna, suggesting that Tambe should make a representation to the central committee. Tambe's advocate M S Karnik submitted that the central and state coordination panels, constituted under the 1995 Act, have a major role to play in evolving policies to solve problems faced by the disabled. The judges were miffed that even after issuing notice on July 12, 2013, the central committee had not responded because a copy of their order was not forwarded to it. Almost two months are wasted. You (committee) are supposed to play a proactive role,'' said Justice Shah. The judges directed Tambe to make a representation to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and also to the Central Coordination Committee . The judges said they expect the committee to look into Tambe's "representation to include cancer-cured persons as disabled" and kids suffering from Hunter Syndrome. Kanchan Pamnani Advocate & Solicitor 9, Suleman Chambers, Battery Street, Colaba, Mumbai - 400 039. Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.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 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..
