Dear Colleagues,
People's Action for Change & Empowerment (PACE) in collaboration with Centre for Accessibility in Built Environment (CABE) invites you to a National Consultation on the RPWD Bill 2016 (Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2016) scheduled to be held in New Delhi during 29-30 Dec 2016. For a copy of the New RPWD Bill 2016 passed by the Rajya Sabha here. For the benefit of blind readers, a copy of the RPWD Bill 2016 in plain text (without table) is provided here. Related documents can be accessed on the Resource Section.
Poster
Background
According to the Census of India,
2011 disabled persons accounted for 2.21% of India’s population. Of these,
20.3% have a movement-related disability, 18.9% are those with hearing
disabilities and 18.8% with vision-related disabilities. The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment itself considers this figure as an under-count. The World Bank pegged the number of disabled in India to be around 80 million.
Currently, the Persons with
Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation)
(PWD) Act, 1995 specifies seven conditions as disabilities and makes special
provisions for disabled persons with regard to their rehabilitation, and
opportunities for employment and education.
In 2007, India became a signatory
to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(UNCRPD). The UNCRPD requires signatory states to make appropriate changes in
law and policy to give effect to rights of disabled persons.
Apart from the PWD Act, other
laws that govern various aspects of disabilities include the Mental Health Act,
1987, the Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992 and the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral
Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999.
In response to the ratification of the
UNCRPD, the Government decided to bring about changes in its existing legal
framework. Accordingly, in 2010, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
constituted an expert committee under Dr. Sudha Kaul Vice-Chairperson, Indian
Institute of Cerebral Palsy, Kolkata, to draft a new Bill for persons with
disabilities. The committee with the help of a legal consultant Prof. Amita Dhanda (Nalsar Law University) submitted a Draft Bill on June 30, 2011 that
proposed to replace the existing Persons with Disabilities Act and addressed rights and entitlements for
disabled persons. The draft Bill was extensively debated and discussed at
various levels involving State Governments and Union Territories. The Committee
held several State Level consultations at 30 places (28 States and 2 UTs) and
also a National Consultation involving civil society representatives and
consultations with legal experts. On the basis of the comments received from
Central Ministries/ Departments as also the State Governments, the draft RPWD
Bill was further revised and subsequently finalized in consultations with
Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Department). The Union Cabinet
considered the proposal of the Ministry and approved the proposed RPWD Bill,
2013 with the modification regarding exemption of National Fund from the
purview of income tax (deletion of clause 102).
The Ministry further met the
representatives of the cross disability groups under the banner of Joint
Disabilities Forum. The issues raised by the cross disability Joint
Disabilities Forum were discussed in detail in the National Advisory Council on
29.01.2014. Accordingly, the revised proposal to incorporate these amendments
in the Bill was approved by the Cabinet on 06.02.2014.
The Bill was introduced in Rajya
Sabha February 7, 2014 and the amendments thereto were circulated in the Rajya
Sabha on February 11, 2014. The Bill was, thereafter, on September 16, 2014,
referred to the Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment for
examination and report. However, due to dissolution of 15th Lok Sabha, the Bill
was re-referred to the Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment (2014-15)
in the 16th Lok Sabha.
The Standing Committee chaired by
Shri. Ramesh Bais presented its report
to Lok Sabha on May 7, 2015 with several important recommendations. Its only in
winter session of 2016, that the bill was tabled in the Parliament & both the houses passed the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities Bill 2014 with 119 amendments as 'The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2016 (Rajya Sabha passed it on 14 Dec 16 and Lok Sabha on 16 Dec 16) unanimously. As we write, the Bill awaits the assent of the Hon'ble President for its notification.
Need of this consultation
Although
the Bill has many good features incorporating civil, political & cultural
rights & also covers a wide range of disabling conditions with power to the
government to add more disabilities, yet there are many areas in the Bill that pose
serious challenge as a result of omissions & dilutions. This not only that
frustrates the object of the Bill - that is to give full effect to the UN
convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, but also takes away from
the stakeholders what was already available to them in the earlier Act of 1995.
Many
sections of the bill are also dependent on framing of comprehensive rules in
order to give effect to the Bill. There are also catena of judgments passed by
the different High Courts & Hon’ble Supreme Court giving wider &
beneficial interpretations of the existing PWD Act of 1995 that advanced the rights of persons with
disabilities and this jurisprudence need to find its place in the Bill or in
rules. If these concerns cannot be
addressed within the rules in the given framework of the bill, it may
necessitate amendments in the bill to rectify the same.
In
light of above, a National Consultation on the RPWD Bill 2016 is proposed to be
held during 29-30 Dec 2016 as per following details, wherein we propose to discuss each section
threadbare & analyse the bill & come up with suggestions on how to plug
the lacunae in the Bill that the rights of persons with disabilities are
protected. The participants of the Consultation will be lawyers, activists, persons with disabilities & DPOs/ NGOs working on disability rights issues.
Venue: Gandhi Hall, Blind Relief Association, Lal Bahadur Shastri Road, New Delhi 110003 (Near Oberoi Hotel). [Locate here on Google Map]
Date: 29 & 30 December 2016
Time: 09 AM to 6 PM
Tentative Agenda
Day – 1
|
Registration 9 AM – 9.30 AM
|
Session 0
: 9.30 AM – 10.00 AM
Introduction to RPWD Bill /Opening Remarks
|
Mr. AK Awasthi, Joint Secretary, DEPWD
Mr. Pankaj Sinha, Adv, PACE
|
Session 1
:10.00 AM – 11.30 AM
Chapter I and II - Definitions
& Right & Entitlements (1.5 Hours)
|
|
Tea break
|
Session 2 :11.45 AM – 1.45 PM
Chapter III & IV – Education &Skill Development & Employment (1.5 Hours)
|
Mr. Avinash Shahi, JNU
|
Lunch
|
Session 3
:2.30 PM – 3.45 PM
Chapter VI Benchmark Disabilities (1.5 Hrs)
|
|
Tea Break
|
Session 4
:4.00 PM – 5.30 PM
Chapters V & VII - Social Security, Health, Rehabilitation And
Recreation & High Support Needs
|
|
Day-2
|
Session 5:
9.00 AM – 11.00 AM
Chapter VIII - Duties And
Responsibilities Of Appropriate Governments
|
Mr. Subhash Chandra Vashishth, Adv
|
Tea break
|
Session 6:11.30 AM – 1.00 PM
Chapter IX, X & XI – Registration of Institutions, Disability
Certification & Advisory boards
|
|
Lunch
|
Session 7
– 2.00 PM – 3.00 PM
Chapter XII & XIII – Chief Commissioner/ State Commissioners &
Special Courts
|
Mr. Pankaj Sinha, Adv
|
Session 8
– 3.15 PM – 4.15 PM
Chapter XIV to Chapters XVII
National Fund, Offences & Penalties & Misc.
|
Mr. T.D. Dhariyal, Former Dy CCPD
|
Tea Break
|
Summing Up: 4.30 PM- 5.00 PM
|
Mr. Pankaj Sinha, Adv
Mr. Subhash Chandra Vashishth, Adv
|
Press
Conference: 5.00 PM - 6.00 PM
|
|
Registration
If you are interested to contribute & attend this consultation workshop, please write a mail to pace4india@gmail.com / cabe.access@gmail.com and get yourself registered.
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