News

Volume 6 Issue 6 - September 01, 2009

N.C.P.E.D.P. forms a national level Core Group on Disability Act 2009

D.N.I.S. News Network, India: With a view to broad base the discussion on the proposed amendments to the Disability Act 1995 and to consider the possibility of a new law. N.C.P.E.D.P. is forming a Core Group on “The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Respect for Dignity, Effective Participation and Inclusive Opportunities) Act, 2009”. The group will have representation from all over the country and across disabilities.

Javed Abidi will be the Convenor of the group which will also have two Joint Convenors. The first meeting of the Core Group will be held in New Delhi on October 29.

This is the third time that the topic of amending the Disability Act 1995 is being hyped since it came into force more than 13 years back. The proposed amendments, however, do not reflect the paradigm shift envisaged in U.N.C.R.P.D. They also fail to endorse the social model of disability and are not written in the rights based framework. The emphasis still remains on the ‘medical model’ and on conceptualizing disability as a disorder.

It is a strong view of the sector that given the paradigm shift the changes are so substantive that it may be useful to write a new law rather than just amend the present one.