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CBR Forum E-News Bulletin
A Compilation of News, Information and Updates in promoting the rights of persons with disabilities
JUNE 2009
Disclaimer This e-news is a collation of articles/ news from national and international sources. The contents of the same do not necessarily represent the views of CBR Forum.
A: INDIA
TN gets first blind judicial officer
CHENNAI/COIMBATORE: T Chakkaravarthy lost his vision when he was a toddler, but he never lost sight of his dream. On June 1, he created a judicial
history by probably becoming the first visually impaired judicial officer in Tamil Nadu to hold court.
Father of disabled boy accuses school of discrimination
CHENNAI: It was a rude awakening for the parents of Vishal, a physically challenged nine-year-old, when they tried to get him admitted to a school
in the neighbourhood in which they were living in.
2,000 disabled people across TN fast against govt apathy
1 Jul 2009, 0337 hrs IST, TNN
CHENNAI: Approximately 2,000 disabled people from across the state will organise a day-long token fast on Wednesday to protest the inefficiency of
the government in administering the schemes meant for this section of the population.
Teaching dreams lure disabled to DU
NEW DELHI: Many youngsters may be confused about a career even as they apply for admission to Delhi University, but most physically challenged students know exactly what they want to do - they want to be teachers, say counselors.
Disabled activist demands land rights for labourers
Under the aegis of CPI (ML) Liberation, rights activist Bant Singh Jhabbar sat on a dharna at Matka Chowk here on Monday, to demand residential plots for landless labourers in Punjab.
Man who lost hand in mishap gets Rs 5L
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has awarded over Rs five lakh as compensation to a man whose right hand was crushed after it came under the rear wheel of a bus in an accident five years ago.
Railways to make 1,500 stations 'disabled friendly'
New Delhi, Jun 14 (PTI) With a view to giving convenience to physically challenged people, the Railways have decided to provide special facilities in over 1,500 stations in the country.
Railways decide to recruit the disabled
PATNA: Physically challenged people have reasons to cheer up. The railways, which has been the largest employer in government service, has decided
to re-start recruitment process under the disabled category. In the first phase of recruitment process, the railways would fill up vacancies of about 4,254 posts in group C and D categories across the country.
Nudge to Pranab on budget for disabled
New Delhi, June 25: The social justice and empowerment ministry has written to the finance minister asking him to “keep the disabled in mind’’ while preparing the budget.
DU charts new course to open avenues for disabled students
One of the features that distinguishes Doordarshan from private news channels is a special news programme for persons with hearing disability: the anchor ‘tells’ news through sign languages, covering everything from politics to sports and the weather.
Disabled by bullet, child points finger at Kasab
Mumbai, June 10: A 10-year-old girl permanently disabled by the bullets of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab today went up to the witness box and identified the Pakistani as the man who went on a killing spree at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus on 26/11.
Women leaders trained on issues of disability
Dimapur, May 29 (MExN): Prodigals’ Home started working on issues of disability in 2007. With the objective to promote better understanding and mobilize collective efforts for people with disability, the Organization has initiated a Community Resource & Training Center for Persons with Disability supported by Planning and Coordination Department Government of Nagaland.
38 disabled students score above 90 percent in CBSE class 10 exam
New Delhi, May 29 (IANS) Disabled students accounted for 38 out of the 47,821 who scored 90 percent and above in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) class 10 exams this year.
Hearing impaired student scores 92%
MUMBAI: Priyanka Patil's story makes a great argument for integrated education. Despite the fact that she was born with a hundred percent hearing loss, her parents insisted on enrolling her at a regular school and not a special one. The gamble paid off. Priyanka, a student of R N Podar School, Santa Cruz, scored a whopping 92% in the CBSE exams - no mean feat for any student, let alone a child with a disability.
For anyone, a physical disability is a major setback and the going can be very tough in life. And with the odds stacked against you, it’s easy to wallow in self pity and take on a negative approach to life.
B: INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Supreme Court victory for parents of disabled students
Justices rule that parents who remove a disabled child from public school can be reimbursed for private instruction. The court says a 'free, appropriate' education is a public duty.
One hand? Sorry, not disabled enough
A MUM hit out yesterday after being told her one-handed daughter was not handicapped enough to qualify for help.
Doctors Fight Labeling Obesity a Disability
Disability Label Brings up Anti-Discrimination and Insurance Coverage Debates
New 'Miss Deaf Utah' Says Her Abilities Far Outweigh Her Disabilities
Natisha Luke has the ability to do a lot of things. She is a certified phlebotomist. She's also holding down a regular job as a cashier for Home Depot.
Blind Ambition / Disability does not deter triathlete
ROY -- Marathoners and triathletes often evoke awe among their more sedentary brethren. But what Cindee Stanley does is just jaw-dropping.
Stanley participated in marathons her entire life. Then a car accident left her blind.
Disabled transport access protest
A series of demonstrations are taking place across Wales to highlight difficulties faced by disabled people accessing public transport.
After 90 years, Arlington T station becomes accessible to disabled riders
The construction of three new elevators has made Arlington Station on the Green Line accessible to disabled riders for the first time in its 90-year history.
TV crew puts disabilities before a mainstream audience
A TV crew came to profile a visiting dance troupe at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, but it wasn't your typical interview.
Crew members, both in front of and behind the camera, were from Ablevision, a TV show created by developmentally disabled adults in the Malden-based Triangle Inc. program. Some members of the dance troupe - from the acclaimed Gimp Project - have physical disabilities, and their differences are incorporated into their performances.
BBC launches disabled actors, performers directory in the UK
MUMBAI: BBC's director of vision Jana Bennett has launched an online directory of disabled actors, comedians and performers with disabilities, the BBC's nationwide search for disabled talent.
Disabled Japanese tennis star hopes to inspire
PARIS (AFP) — Japan's Paralympic tennis champion Shingo Kunieda believes that his success can serve as an inspiration to other disabled people and encourage them to take up the sport
Disabled parachute jumper defies his disability
A MAN who was left unable to walk after a car accident has raised £3,000 by jumping out of a plane.
TV guru won't let disability stop him
Fishing guru Graeme Sinclair says attitude saved him from abandoning his action television career 12 years ago because of a crippling disease.
Britain's Got Talent: Singing sensation Susan Boyle sang to escape the bullies
Britain's Got Talent sensation Susan Boyle has revealed the childhood bullying torment that spurred her bid for stardom.
Susan, 48, wowed judges and viewers with her version of hit West End show tune I Dreamed A Dream as the ITV1 series returned last night.
But she told how as a youngster she was ruthlessly mocked by other kids because being starved of oxygen at birth left her with learning difficulties.
Susan Boyle: makers of Britain's Got Talent facing questions over her care
The makers of Britain's Got Talent are facing a possible Ofcom inquiry into their handling of Susan Boyle after she was admitted to the Priory clinic amid fears for her mental health.
Disability Shouldn’t Impact Child Custody, Advocates Say
Advocates are fighting to change a New York law which allows the state to terminate child custody if a parent has a developmental disability or a mental illness.
Dubai organizes fashion show for disabled designers
DUBAI: It was a fashion show with a difference -- a bunch of designers with special needs were here with their wares in a special event aimed at
encouraging positive attitudes towards people with disabilities.
Clothes store banned disabled sales assistant from shop floor, tribunal told
Law student sues Abercrombie & Fitch for discrimination after treatment at London store left her 'diminished and humiliated'
Disability Community Applauds High Court Nominee
Disability advocacy groups praise President Obama's Supreme Court choice, Sonia Sotomayor, whose struggles with diabetes and judicial opinions on prominent disability cases are widely known.
Pillay: Insult To Injury For Disabled People
1 JULY 2009 - "Disabled people's voices in New Zealand have been shut down" says Lynne Pillay Labour Spokesperson for Disability Issues.
The blind find Kevin Rudd offensive
THE disabled have been insulted by federal politicians for the second time in a fortnight, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd the latest offender.
Blind people took exception to his use of the term "Blind Freddy" yesterday, claiming it suggested they were stupid.
Disabled pupil 'forced to stand'
A teacher who made a girl with brittle bone disorder stand in a corner after she misbehaved has been banned from teaching for two years.
On the Bench, With Fairness and Empathy
New York Times
But, she said, “A learning disability is not measurable in the same way a blood disease can be measured in a serum test.” Dr. Bartlett, she said, ...
Woman sentenced for taking disabled son's income
HELENA, Mont. (AP) A 58-year-old Helena woman has been put on probation for three years and ordered to pay just over $9,000 in restitution for stealing federal and insurance payments that should have gone to her mentally disabled son.
Eva Longoria Parker: how I feel about my sister's disability
I am a very lucky woman in many ways. I have good health, a wonderful career as an actress, and I'm very happily married to my husband, basketball player Tony Parker.
Texas farm that employed mentally disabled faces more scrutiny after Iowa facility's shutdown
GOLDTHWAITE, Texas – The young men, fresh from Texas state institutions for the mentally disabled, began arriving at Thurman Johnson's ranch in the rolling hills west of town in the late 1960s.
When can people with disabilities make their own decisions?
The European Disability Forum (EDF) and the European Consortium of Foundations on Human Rights and Disability jointly organised a symposium on the legal capacity of persons with disabilities in light of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The symposium, held at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels on 4 June 2009, was attended by more than 100 specialists, including for the first time legal experts (from the Council of the Notariats of the European Union), representatives from the EU institutions (Commission, Council and Parliament), as well as from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working to defend the human rights of persons with disabilities.
Disabled officer to be compensated after bridge bravery jump
A young officer who was left paraplegic when he leapt 65 feet into a reservoir to prove his bravery has won the right to millions in compensation from the Ministry of Defence.
C: RESOURCES – Newsletter, Publication,Journal, Guideline,Website
Signed Stories
www.signedstories.com has a wealth of information about storytelling, as a fun family tool and as a teaching resource, and at the Deaf Parenting UK Conference we want to raise awareness of the importance of connections between family life and school education.
Source: Our Rights - issue 11, June 2009, http://www.daa.org.uk/
CII - The Disability Employment Manual
The Disability Employment Manual - 'A Values Route to Business Success - The Why & How of Employing Persons with Disability', compiled & edited by Diversity & Equal Opportunity Centre (DEOC) and published by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) can be purchased online from CII Website
New UK Report on Study Into Human Rights
The UK Equality and Human Rights Commission are launching a major new report today on a study that was undertaken on Human Rights in the UK.
Report on Disabled Women in the Pacific region
Disabled people and women experience discrimination in countries around the world, including within the Pacific region.
African Policy on Disability and Development (A-PODD)
Welcome to the African Policy on Disability and Development (A-PODD) website, which provides an insight into the project and offers some resources and links related to policy, disability and development.
AbleGamers
A community for Disabled Gamers
Newsletter of Design For All Institute of India
http://www.designforall.in/newsletter_May2009.pdf
http://www.designforall.in/newsletter_June2009.pdf
SECLUSIONS AND RESTRAINTS
Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at Public and Private Schools and Treatment Centers
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09719t.pdf
D: ANNOUNCEMENTS
5th South Asia CBR Network Conference
The 5th South Asia CBR Network Conference will be held in Kabul Afghanistan 5-7th of October 2009,
For more information please refer to the website www.cbrnetwork.af
Second workshop on web accessibility
Organised by Centre for Internet and Society, for details click on following link
E: UNION BUDGETS 2009
– List of recommendations made by National Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to the respective Ministries
POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION IN THE UPCOMING UNION BUDGET VIS-À-VIS DISABILITY
There are about 70 million disabled people in the country. Historically, disability has been viewed as a charity/welfare issue. As a result, most development plans never included disability.
Rights of people with disability got legal recognition for the first time with the passage of The Disability Act in 1995. The human rights of disabled people further got strengthened in India with the ratification of the UN Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) on 1st October 2007. The XI Five Year Plan (2007-12) addresses disability as a cross cutting issue and seeks every Ministry to have a plan for disability and to allocate at least 3% of the budget towards the same. However, the implementation of these laws & policies has been extremely tardy. It has been 2 years since the XI Plan started and more than a year since the ratification of UNCRPD, but no steps have been taken so far to implement the provisions given in them.
Union Budget is an important planning activity of the Government. Some of the initiatives which the Government has planned can be operationalised / kick-started by allocating adequate resources and making appropriate announcements in the upcoming Union Budget.
Following are some of the points for consideration with respect to disability in the upcoming Union Budget:
· Disability should be specifically mentioned in the Budget Speech, not as a charity / welfare issue but as a cross cutting, development, human resource and a human rights issue.
· Each concerned Ministry/Department should reserve not less than 3% of their annual outlay for the benefit of disabled persons as enjoined in The Disability Act, 1995 and as clearly stated in the XI Year Plan. The disability budget and its utilisation should be presented in the Annual Reports of the Ministries.
· Raise the income ceiling for availing assistance under the ADIP Scheme (a scheme for distributing aids & appliances for disabled people) to Rs. 10,000/- per month and enhance the ceiling for purchase/fitting of aids and appliances to Rs. 25,000/- per month, as promised in the XI Plan.
· As already provided in the XI Plan (copy at Annexure 1 for easy reference), allocate adequate resources and announce the establishment of:
o A National Centre to facilitate and support the development of Universal Design and barrier-free built environment.
o A Sign Language Research and Training Centre devoted to the development and promotion of sign language and training of teachers and interpreters.
o At least one residential school up to Class XII and one Degree college for the deaf in every zone to promote their educational development.
o A National Captioning Centre to provide sub-titling and captioning services.
· A scheme for providing loans to disabled people on concessional terms by Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Co-operatives for higher education, self-employment ventures, home loans etc. should be introduced as mentioned in the XI Plan.
· The Incentive Scheme for Employers that was announced in the last budget two years ago has not proved very effective. Rs 1800 crore was allocated and 1 lakh jobs for disabled people promised but it has not resulted in creating even 100 jobs and the money remains unutilized! A strong/genuine Incentive Scheme as mandated under Section 41 of the Disability Act 1995 and as advocated by NCPEDP etc. for the last 3-4 years. ( NCPEDPs suggestions are given at Annexure 2)
· A Social A Social Security Scheme for People with Mental Disabilities. Already recommended by the Ministry of Social Justice and lobbied for by the Parents Group, PARIVAAR etc.
· Income Tax Exemption of only Rs. 50,000 is available to disabled people (and of Rs. 75,000 in the case of those who are severely disabled i.e. above 80% disability). It needs to be revised to at least Rs. 100,000 for all disabled people and to Rs. 150,000 for severely disabled people.
· A Scholarship Scheme for deserving persons with disabilities for training/education abroad.
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE RAILWAY BUDGET VIS-À-VIS DISABILITY
Travelling in train continues to be an ordeal for disabled people and senior citizens in our country. Their safety and needs should be taken into account while planning the Railway Budget.
Even though The Disability Act (enacted over a decade ago) mandates railway stations and coaches to be made barrier free for disabled people, its implementation leaves much to be desired.
Following are some of the suggestions for the Rail Budget with respect to the needs of people with disabilities:
· Railway Stations: Railway stations are not accessible for people with disabilities. Apart from a ramp (sometimes it is just a slope and not a proper ramp!) which is available in some stations and reserved parking, there are no facilities for people with disabilities at the stations. The issue of accessing the reserved parking, reaching the various platforms and getting on to the train for people with mobility impairment; making enquiries and getting information about rail routes, arrival/departure, etc. for hearing impaired people; and safe and independent mobility and access to information for visually impaired persons are not being taken into account while renovating/upgrading the railway stations. Specific Plan (covering all aspects of accessibility for disabled people) should be prepared to make all stations disabled friendly. All passenger amenities that are being planned should ensure that they cater to the needs of disabled passengers as well. There should be availability of serviceable wheelchairs at every platform and sign language interpreters at every station.
· Coaches: There are now ‘special coaches’ for disabled people in certain trains. The approach is exclusionary and defeats the very purpose of inclusiveness and a universally accessible environment. The coach is totally disconnected from all other compartments. Only 8 passengers along with the escorts can travel. The design of ALL coaches should follow the universal design concept and should be accessible for all. There should be a clear plan to design coaches which are inclusive, so that disabled people can travel with dignity and comfort in whichever class or compartment that they wish to, from say a general category bogey to a Ist AC Coach!
· Allocating appropriate seats in coaches: While booking tickets using the Railway Concession Forms, persons with disabilities and their escorts should be assigned seats according to their preference, such as lower berths, seats near the entry/exit of the coach, etc.
· Railway Concessions: Concessions are available only for mail and express trains but not for superfast trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, etc. The disability concessions should be available in all trains including local trains.
· Procedure for availing concession: The whole procedure of getting concession is very complicated. ‘Disability Certificate’ issued by Government to people with disability is not valid for railway concession! People with disability have to collect a Railway concession Form from DRM’s office, fill it in, and go through medical examination once again to get the concession. Also, they come with 5 years validity and need to be renewed. Disability Certificate should be considered as a valid proof for availing railway concession.
· On-line Ticket Booking: On-line booking is a great boon. However, disabled people cannot buy their tickets online, as they have to submit the railway concession form while booking their tickets. This really makes it very difficult for people with disability. Disabled people should be allowed to book their tickets online (One can give the details online, which can be cross checked by T.C. at the time of the Journey, as it is done in the case of Senior Citizens).
· The Indian Railways Website should be made accessible for people with disabilities. It should comply with the guidelines announced by the Department of Technology (DIT) on web accessibility (WCAG 2.0).
· Training of the railway staff: Disabled people often face a lot of issues dealing with railway staff who are not only ill informed about disability concessions & procedures but are also insensitive and misbehave with them. There should be a system to make disability training mandatory for all railway staff.
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Disclaimer: This e-news is a collation of articles/ news from national and international sources. The contents of the same do not necessarily represent the views of CBR Forum.