Volume 3 Issue 18

Feature

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  Access audit exposes pathetic state of access in Orissa
  “The issue of access is a human rights concern and the onus of ensuring and safeguarding it rests on the Government. Access laws, as stipulated in the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, and other statutes must be implemented to allow equal participation and empowerment of disabled people” says Orissa-based non-governmental organisation Swabhiman on the basis of an access audit conducted by it.

Interview

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  Adolescents, youth with disabilities unable to access programmes targeting sexuality: Renu Addlakha
  “A significant group of adolescents and youth with disabilities are not able to access programmes targeting sexuality and reproductive health because they do not address the specific concerns of this socially marginalised group. In order to ensure that all citizens of the country are guaranteed the right to health, it is imperative that the concerns of youth with disabilities are mainstreamed into government health and population policies,” says Dr. Renu Addlakha, Fellow for Leadership Development, MacArthur Foundation in India, in conversation with Dr. Meenu Bhambhani and Parvinder Singh.

News

• Appointment of Manoj Kumar as C.C.P.D, bolt from the blue for the disability sector
  The appointment of Manoj Kumar, who was earlier rejected by the Cabinet Committee on Appointments (A.C.C.) and opposed by the Disabled Rights Group (D.R.G.), as the Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities (C.C.P.D.) comes as a cruel joke for India’s disability sector.
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  Red-tape scuttles S.R.K. show in aid of N.C.P.E.D.P’s National Campaign for Barrier-Free India
  With barely three days to go, the mega show by reigning king of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan, Temptations 2005, scheduled for 17 September 2005 has been cancelled, all because the Delhi Police has refused to give a go ahead on the pretext of “law and order problems”.
• H. C. gives three weeks to Goa Govt. to work out timeframe for implementation of Disability Act
  The Panjim Bench of Bombay High Court has given three weeks time to the Goa Government to work out a timeframe for the implementation of the decade-old The Disability Act, 1995, while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (P.I.L.).
• Kerala’s people with dwarfism demand benefits and reservation under Disability Act
  Drawing inspiration from the success of their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh, people with dwarfism in Kerala have formed an association to demand inclusion in the category of “orthopaedically handicapped” thus allowing them to seek benefits under The Disability Act 1995.
• Another victim of Hindu Marriage Act’s provision that allows divorce on grounds of leprosy
  A 30-year-old woman has been served a legal notice for divorce on the plea that she suffers from leprosy. The incident has once again highlighted the discriminatory provision under the Hindu Marriage Act that allows divorce if a spouse suffers from the disease.
• Delhi H.C. orders disabled boy to be given admission and fee remission in a mainstream public school
  The Delhi High Court has directed Universal Public School to allow admission to a disabled student, who was being neglected in pre-nursery classroom, as his teachers were finding it difficult to “interact with the student,” under a freeship quota.
• Indian Administrative Services probationers sensitised on disability issues
  Life has its strange ways. Like the route from Dehradun to Mussorie, its paths are curvaceous, with too many steep twists and turns that throw surprises – some pleasant and some scary. One cannot anticipate or expect anything. One such surprising opportunity came my way when I was asked to give a lecture to more than 300 I.A.S. probationers on the “Issues of Differently Abled”, at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussorie.
• Pioneering State Resource Centre for people with disabilities in Chennai
  A first of its kind State Resource-Cum-Training Centre (S.R.T.C.) for people with disabilities has come up in Chennai and will provide vital information and facilities under one roof.
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  Vietnam to introduce disabled-friendly mass public transport system
  Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport is contemplating on a regulation for adopting a mass public transport system that is disabled-friendly. It is currently busy seeking opinions and inputs from disabled individuals and Disabled Peoples’ Organisations (D.P.Os).
• Seven disabled-friendly foot-over bridges to come up in Delhi: N.D.M.C.
  The New Delhi Municipal Corporation (N.D.M.C.) has announced an ambitious plan to construct as many as seven disabled-friendly foot-over bridges in a years’ time.
• Kanpur Teenager invents a device to allow drivers to ride two-wheelers by using only legs
  A student of St. Mary’s Convent Inter College in Kanpur has designed a foot-operated device that can be fixed on a two wheeler allowing it be operated by using only the lower limbs.