On Tue, Nov 2, 2010 at 7:51 PM, Pranesh Prakash <[email protected]>wrote:
> On Tuesday 02 November 2010 04:46 PM, Vickram Crishna wrote: > >> It depends on what you mean by 'in force'. Expressing a policy and >> implementing it are quite different things. >> > > By "in force" I meant any policy which is enforceable. For instance, a > policy document / statute that states "FOSS should be used" as opposed to a > recommendation to the government by a committee (such as the Knowledge > Commission) saying "FOSS should be used". The former can be enforced, while > the latter cannot. Thus, in your example, the policy is legally "in force" > because such strictures are contained in the Persons With Disabilities > (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, > 1995, and a case can be filed for its enforcement. > Actually, I had in mind the policies in the nature of the commitment made by becoming a signatory to a UN resolution (2005, if I am not mistaken), according to which all government information sources were to be made disabled-accessible by next year. At the rate we are going this commitment is as good as empty, or, to use a slightly more positive analogy, our progress on meeting this deadline is strongly reminiscent of the CWG, circa 2009. A vast number of government documents are still published in opaque proprietary formats, making universal access a joke. The PWD Act has no such inbuilt deadlines, hence there is no legal case to be filed. Putting flesh on to such aspirational commitments is a matter of principle, maybe even honour. However, surely one can also look at action under other Acts in force, such as the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act? It needn't be the case that every policy decision must have a specific Act of Parliament associated with it before it can be implemented. > > Cheers, > > Pranesh > > -- > Pranesh Prakash > Programme Manager > Centre for Internet and Society > W: http://cis-india.org | T: +91 80 40926283 > > > _______________________________________________ > network mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in > > -- Vickram Fool On The Hill <http://communicall.wordpress.com>
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