I still remember Meenakshi Lekhi was associated with the management of my childhood school and often was deputed to pacify protesters like us in the school... Its good to notice her reflecting on the challenges faced by persons with disabilities. http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/Chargesheet/international-persons-with-disabilities-day-indias-policies-should-empower-disabled/
India is home to over 26 million disabled people; almost 33% of them sleep hungry and have higher rate of mortality. In New Delhi, there are several lakhs disabled persons are in dire need for institutional support from the Government of India. Policies to the benefit of disabled persons have often been reduced to providing short-term reliefs of reservations or subsidies. On the occasion of the UN International Persons with Disabilities Day, we must remind ourselves what the priorities of the state ought to be with regards to policy formulation for disabled persons. As I had raised in the parliament today during the zero hour, a renaissance of conceptualization of disabled-empowerment policies is required in India. Public policy towards the betterment of lives of disabled persons currently seems short-sighted and poorly utilises the potential of these persons. I strongly believe that physical disability ought to never be an inhibition for one's holistic integration and participation in the society. A disabled person is one who is differently abled, and every individual has the potential to contribute to the nation's betterment and live with dignity and respect. To this regard, I believe a four-pronged approach is necessary. On the first level, we must recognize that several disabled persons today are unemployed and hence suffer severely for their bare sustenance. The situation thus necessitates the Government of India to equip these individuals with skill-sets which they could use to contribute constructively towards the nation's development, and become financially independent. The Government has thus planned to set up special skill development institutes across the nation purely for the benefit of persons with disabilities. Given that New Delhi has a significant disabled population, I strongly believe that the city ought to have its own 'Industrial Training Centers' (ITIs) or 'Vocational Training Centers' dedicated solely to persons with disability. This policy shall catalyze to the process of financially empowering these individuals and enable them to gain employment in different fields. At the second level, I believe government intervention shouldn't stop with just equipping these individuals but to further utilize their skills and potential towards manufacturing those commodities which could in turn benefit the disabled community at large. This is furthering our Prime Minister's vision of ensuring equal opportunities for disabled persons and making them economically self-reliant. The Prime Minister has globally pitched for India to be the new 'manufacturing hub' and I believe that community-driven initiative of involving these individuals in domestically producing goods and services which are of benefit to the disabled community at large shall be a landmark policy initiative. Thirdly, India has had an exemplary track record of producing para-athletes par excellence over the decades who have won at several international sporting events including the recent Asian Para Games. However, there isn't a single sporting complex in the nation for disabled persons today. The Government is pioneering a project of setting up para-sports complexes across the country, dedicated solely to these athletes. Delhi being home to several Arjuna awardees, Dronacharya awardees, Asiad and other national para games winners, I recognize the necessity of a para-sports complex in Delhi and hope to set up the same in the future. Finally, Indians today remain woefully ignorant of the nation's glorious cultural history, values and mythology. Examples of iconic characters from Indian mythology like 'Ashtavakra' who embody the spirit of self-empowerment and potential of persons with disabilities ought to be included in books which are taught to children at a young age. Our rich cultural history and its magnificent testimonies of self-reliance ought to be revered by every individual in the country for this characterizes the spirit of the Government's intent behind disabled-empowerment policies. I thus strongly believe that disabled-persons are valuable assets to the nation and those who must be empowered to be able to live with dignity and respect, at par with other individuals in the society. And this holistic integration of the disabled community with mainstream society can be achieved through this four-pronged initiative which I pledge to work towards. Meenakshi Lekhi is Member of Parliament from New Delhi and a socio-political activist, She was a practicing lawyer for several years. With over 20 years of active public life, Meenakshi has relentlessly worked for issues of national and international importance. She is also the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Ideas and opinions expressed here are her views and may not represent any other individual or organization. -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Clean India Campaign: Let us also chip in! 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. 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