Events & Issues

New Delhi, 24 February 2014

Disability Rights Bill

PARLIAMENT LETS DOWN MILLIONS

By Dr S Saraswathi

(Former Director, ICSSR, New Delhi)

People’s representatives have sadly let down the millions of disabled in the country. Despite protests demanding its passage, the Disability Rights Bill, pending since 2011 was not passed in the winter and last session of Parliament! The Government had sought to introduce 16 amendments to the Bill and even assured disability rights’ groups of clearing it, but was so overtly obsessed with the passage of the Telengana Bill that it ended up relegating it to the backburner.     

While all eyes would be on the new Government to fulfill its duty, the entire exercise has provoked some drastic rethinking and debates among the disabled, the social activists and NGOs working in the field, and law makers. The Bill had sought to replace the existing statute, the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 to bring the Indian law closer to current thinking on the subject that is reflected in the UN Convention.

The UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2006 which contains 50 articles. It is said to be a human rights treaty concluded smoothly after negotiations among international organizations, national governments, NGOs active in the field, human rights bodies, and disabled themselves across the globe. India is a signatory to this Convention, but has been slow in framing and amending laws in conformity with its injunctions.

The Convention does not provide any standard definition of disability as conditions and concepts vary from country to country. Disability is caused by physical, mental, and other impairments along with social, economic, educational and other barriers that deny a person enjoyment of full life. The Convention recognizes the fact that disability is an evolving concept and that it results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. Disability is not just a biological factor. It is also a social and political phenomenon.

Disability broadly describes impairment in a person’s ability to function due to various deficiencies in the sub-systems of the body.  The degree or extent of disability may vary causing mild, moderate, or severe disability.

Three categories – impairment, disability, and handicap – are included in the broad concept of disability. Impairment indicates loss of physiological, psychological, or structural function; disability is lack of ability to perform one’s daily activities; and handicap refers to social disadvantages a person faces on account of infirmity and disability. All the three are considered as “disability” and have to be addressed in any legislative or executive intervention.

Census provides statistical data on the disabled by covering certain types of disability.  For the first time the Government of India carried out a survey of disabled persons in the country in 1982 - the International Year of the Disabled.  Persons having three types of disability – visual, communication, and movement - were covered in the survey. In 2001, two more types of disability - hearing, and mental functioning – were covered.  The next census in 2011 has further enlarged the coverage to eight types of disability.  The Bill had expanded the definition to include 19 types of physical and mental disabilities.

The census of 2011 records an increase in the number of disabled from 21.9 million in 2001 to about 26.8 million. Sex-wise, they number 14.9 million male and 11.8 million female. The percentage of disabled in the total population is 2.21 made up of 2.41% of male population and 2.01 % of female population. We may safely presume that the actual number of disabled must be far higher than the number covered in the census as disability still carries a stigma and creates inferiority complex in the disabled leading to suppression of the disability from public exposure.

Such suppression of data is more common in the case of women. Infirmity in a girl lowers her value in the marriage market, and also results in extraction of higher dowry, harassment after marriage and so on deepening the social side of disability factor.

Over 18 million disabled are found in rural areas and 8.1 million in urban areas. This data indicates both the lack of medical facilities in rural areas as well as ignorance about remedies. Even small infirmities and injuries become permanent and serious disability due to lack of prompt attention.

Importantly, disability has not been adequately studied or treated as a social problem.  The focus has had been exclusively on the medical problem and on the individual deficiency. Only in recent years are the social aspects of dealing with disability receiving attention. 

The UN Convention shifted focus from medical to social model of disability. Persons with infirmities do suffer several restrictions and discriminations.  Law, customs, political systems, economic ideologies, social institutions, and even family relations put barriers to participation of the disabled to carry out basic actions. The barriers are as significant as impairments and so the element of disability can be mitigated to some extent by removing human-caused obstructions to normal life.

Hence, disability cannot be fully addressed by providing special education, rehabilitation, and medical attention. These are certainly necessary. But, disability has to be treated further as a social, cultural, and political phenomenon and not as a subject for social work or philanthropy. 

Prejudice, deprivation, exclusion, discriminations – these are the main social issues related with disability.  They are found everywhere and at all times. Removing them is as important as medical treatment of the disabled. Gender, economic class, and age tend to divide disability and the disabled further and have to be addressed from multiple angles.

In short, disability based oppression must be removed by legislations and social education. The latter takes a long time and is undependable, as just seen.  Hence, we have to frame a comprehensive law to deal with privations and deprivations of disability.

The bill was framed with the recognition of equality of persons with disabilities with others and prohibits direct and indirect discriminations on the basis of disabilities. It increases the job quota for the disabled from 3% to 5%. It provides for implementation of all civil and political rights granted by the UN Convention. Legal capacity, equality, and dignity constitute the basic tenets of this bill.

However, it falls short of ensuring complete equality and does not provide for abrogation of existing legal discriminations wholesale. Perhaps, the country needs further social and economic development for drastic changes. The bill had also provided for setting up a National Commission and also a National fund for Persons with Disabilities.    

Continued focus on welfare on the part of law makers may lead to a legislation still inadequate. Current thinking demands empowerment of the disabled. This cannot be achieved without a change in the thinking, attitudes, and reasoning of the able-bodied.   

Meanwhile, we have to accept our moral duty to remove man-made barriers obstructing participation of the disabled. Along with this, adequate public funds should be earmarked   for bringing out the hidden potential of this group of population (rightly labeled as “differently abled”) as an integral part of our endeavour to achieve inclusive development.  --- INFA

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