News
Volume 3 Issue 4 - February 15, 2005
Shadow Report slams government apathy
DNIS News Network Compiled by Sakshi Broota for NCPEDP, the Shadow Report finds that annual reports of various ministries make no mention of disability.On Febraury 7, 2005, in a press conference timed to mark the ninth anniversary of the enactment of the Disability Act, Javed Abidi, Executive Director, NCPEDP, unveiled a Shadow Report compiled for NCPEDP by Sakshi Broota, a disability activist. The Shadow Report analysed the annual reports of all government ministries from the perspective of disability.
While the government reports present a convincing picture of general progress, they fail miserably when it comes to disability. They read like a catalogue of neglect, with disabled people consistently being denied their rights to medical facilities, education, employment and leisure facilities. The bureaucracy seems either unable or unwilling to ensure that even the most basic needs of disabled people are met. Nine years after the passing of the Disability Act, most government buildings are still completely inaccessible to disabled people. Department after department and ministry after ministry fails to even mention disability in any way.
The Shadow Report is a wake-up call for the government. Javed Abidi admits to being frustrated by the ongoing situation: We have done everything we could in the nine years since the Disability Act was passed, to change things for the better. We have held dharnas, lodged PILs, even gone on hunger strike; everything within the bounds of democracy, he told a roomful of journalists from the national media. But disabled people are being pushed into a corner and will soon have no option but to react strongly.
He feels the core problem is the systemic neglect of the law by the previous Chief Commissioners of Disability, with the post not being treated as a priority. The first commissioner was appointed from the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, one of the departments being monitored by the Commissioner, while the second was from an NGO being funded by the SJ&E ministry. In both cases Abidi pointed out the huge ethical and moral conflict of the Commisioner being the regulator and the regulated. In the wake of the poor showing of the government, as revealed by the Shadow Report, he called upon the government to take the post out of the remit of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and to give it the due status and power it deserves.
(External Website)
DNIS is produced and managed by:
National Centre for
Promotion of Employment
for Disabled People
Screening Guidelines to be followed by CISF Security Staff for Passengers with Disabilities at Indian Airports
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill
Mental Health Care Bill
CRPD Monitoring Report
National Policy
20 Stories of Change(book)
Nominations open for NCPEDP- Mphasis Universal Design Awards 2016.
- List of Awardees 2015 :NCPEDP MPHASIS Universal Design Awards (2.7 MB)
- List of Awardees 2014 :NCPEDP MPHASIS Universal Design Awards (1 MB)
- List of Awardees 2013 :NCPEDP MPHASIS Universal Design Awards (1.44 MB)
- List of Awardees 2012 :NCPEDP MPHASIS Universal Design Awards (804 KB)
- List of Awardees 2011 :NCPEDP MPHASIS Universal Design Awards (864 KB)
- List of Awardees 2010 :NCPEDP MPHASIS Universal Design Awards (623 KB)
Press Release
SHELL HELEN KELLER AWARDS
NCPEDP-Shell Helen Keller Awardees 2013
Features
Interview
News
- Shadow Report slams government apathy
- NCPEDP submits budget recommendations for Railway and Union Budgets
- Krishnamurthy found guilty of failing to provide facilities for disabled voters in Haryana
- India tops world leprosy tables
- DDA housing scheme reserves flats for physically disabled persons
- Taj Mahal to be accessible to physically disabled people
- Tsunami victims take delivery of wheelchairs
- Blind navigators set the pace in Chennai Rally
- βBlackβ throws light on disability
- Indian automobile designer focuses on disabled persons
Additional Links
Disability News and Information Service is produced and managed by:
National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (External Website)
C-43, South Extension, Part
- II,
New Delhi
110 049, India
Tel: 91-11-26265647, 26265648
Fax: 91-11-26265649
E-mail: secretariat@ncpedp.org
Website:
www.ncpedp.org (External Website)