In Dialogue With India, U.N. Committee Discusses Access of Persons With Disabilities to Medical Services in Jammu & Kashmir, Citizenship in Assam
The delegation of
Violence against persons with disabilities in institutions, particularly women and girls with intellectual disabilities, was a normalized experience, Committee Experts highlighted during the dialogue with
Committee Experts commended the enactment of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act and the Mental Health Act, but were concerned about the gaps in their implementation, especially for persons with disabilities from ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities, including Dalits and those in rural and remote areas, who continued to suffer discrimination. Furthermore, the lack of the recognition of legal capacity of persons with intellectual disabilities in the Mental Health Care Act put women and girls with intellectual disabilities at a great risk of forced institutionalization.
During the interactive dialogue with
At the beginning of the meeting,
According to the 2011 census figures, there were 27 million persons with disabilities in
The Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, an integrated scheme for school education, aimed to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education; it envisaged support to provinces in strengthening school infrastructure, in-service training of teachers, and support for libraries, sports, and psychical activities, Ms.
A representative of the
In her concluding remarks, Ms.
Risnawati Utami, Committee Co-Rapporteur for
The delegation of
All the documents relating to the Committee's work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session's webpage, where the concluding observations and recommendations on the report of
The webcast of the Committee's public meetings can be accessed here (http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/).
The Committee will next meet in public at
Report
The Committee has before it the initial report of
Presentation of the Report
According to the latest census figures of 2011, Ms.
Among important affirmative actions under the Act were the four per cent reservation in Government jobs for persons with disabilities, five per cent reservation of seats for students with disabilities in Government and Government-aided higher educational institutions, and five per cent reservation in poverty alleviation schemes and allotments of land for housing.
The Unique Disability ID project aimed to create a national database of persons with disabilities, which provided real-time data and enabled planners to take measures to improve their inclusion and empowerment. To date, the project had been implemented in 35 States covering more than 570 districts.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act was prepared in 2016 and contained a special focus on the creation of a barrier-free environment and mandated the Government to frame rules and standards of accessibility for a built-in environment, transport system, information and communication technology, and other facilities and services. All existing public buildings had to comply with the accessibility standards within five years and all service providers were required to adhere with the standards within two years.
The Accessible India campaign, launched in 2015, had outlined targets for the creation of a barrier-free environment and to date, more than 1,600 Government buildings across the country had been audited for accessibility.
Persons with disabilities were, and would continue to be, an integral part of
Questions from the Experts
MONTHIAN BUNTAN, Committee Rapporteur for
The enactment in 2017 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 and the Mental Health Act of 2017 represented major legal achievements and could serve as a role model for many countries, the Rapporteur said. Still, the implementation of this outstanding legislation raised many questions and this would be the major theme of the discussion with the delegation of
Among the major issues was the lack of explicit reference to the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of disability in the
The Rapporteur also denounced the lack of recognition of multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination; the lack of recognition of legal capacity of persons with intellectual disabilities in the Mental Health Care Act 2017, which put women and girls with intellectual disabilities at a great risk of forced institutionalization; and the lack of participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations of persons with disabilities in the creation, implementation and monitoring of law and policies that concerned them.
Finally,
Another Expert asked the delegation about measures taken to tackle discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities living with disabilities.
On the rights of children with disabilities, the delegation was asked about concrete steps taken to address multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination against girls with disabilities, to guarantee the right of children with disabilities to live with their parents and their right to community life, the protection of children with disabilities against corporal punishment including under the 2007 Juvenile Act, and steps taken to ensure accessibility of schools.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 was definitely a landmark law but many structures that it had provided for had not yet been implemented. What was being done to ensure that "this good law" was being implemented throughout the State and that persons with disabilities were implicated in this process?
The delegation was asked to comment on the provision of reasonable accommodation and explain how persons with disabilities could file a complaint of discrimination; measures taken to raise awareness about the rights of persons with disabilities and to do away with stigma, particularly in relation to people living with leprosy and persons with intellectual disabilities; and, in the context of the national database and register of persons with disabilities, the safeguards to protect their privacy.
RISNAWATI UTAMI, Committee Co-Rapporteur for
The Experts also asked about the efforts to harmonize the Pregnancy Act 1971 with the Convention; the inclusion of children with disabilities in the 2009 Child Protection Scheme, in particular children living in rural and hard to reach areas; and whether
Responses by the Delegation
Ms.
Leprosy was recognized as a disability and it no longer represented grounds for divorce.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act provided for universal inclusion, but for reasons beyond the control of the Act or the
There was swift action to any abuse or any violation of the rights of a child with disabilities; remedial action was provided within 30 days of the notice of such violations.
In a federal country like
Another delegate explained that before the adoption of the term "Divyanjan", the term for persons with disabilities that was in use meant "a person with no ability, a weak person". Such a term was reflective of the society's negative mind set, which was the greatest stumbling block and the greatest barrier to the full enjoyment of all rights by persons with disabilities. The Prime Minister had introduced the new term to give a jolt to that negative mind-set and transform the image of a person with disabilities as a person without any ability into a person with hidden capacities.
Persons with disabilities and their representative organizations had been actively involved in the enactment of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act and consultations had taken place at regional and state levels.
Airports had been made accessible, while railways had been made accessible in at least 12 features that were very important for travellers with disabilities. Over 100 public service websites would be soon be launched in their accessible forms and the Government was ensuring that accessibility standards were being adhered to by the private sector too.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act provided for the creation of the
Under the Awareness Generation Programme,
It was not possible for any medical procedure to be conducted on a woman, including women with disabilities, without her explicit and informed consent.
Questions from the Experts
Psychosocial and intellectual disability were as different from each other as fingerprints; they needed different kinds of reasonable accommodation. What was being done to raise awareness and increase an understanding about these differences.
The Experts raised concern about the use of derogatory language in laws and policies.
Violence against persons with disabilities in institutions, particularly women and girls with intellectual disabilities, was a normalized experience and included all forms of psychical and sexual violence, forced treatment, forced contraception, and forced abortion. Significant barriers to reporting violence existed due to fears of retribution and reprisals.
What were the policies, measures, and budgets to prevent violence against children with disabilities in institutions, as well as to deinstitutionalize such children and provide them with a safe family setting in the community?
What was being done to legally and practically address violence against women with disabilities, promote and fund rehabilitative and protective services, and empower women with disabilities.
The Committee expressed concern about unnatural deaths of persons with disabilities in institutions, mercy killings, and other practices against persons with disabilities, particularly children, and asked about the situation of persons with disabilities, particularly women and children, belonging to ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities, including Dalits, persons affected by leprosy, and deaf-blind.
Social barriers to access to justice arose from the intersection of judicial and forensic procedures and some social norms, the Experts noted, and asked the delegation to inform on concrete steps taken to ensure access to justice for persons with disabilities under any circumstance.
On the denial of legal capacity, what was the duration of decisions revoking legal capacity and were they ever reviewed? What was being done to bring the Mental Health Act into compliance with the Convention and the social model of disability, and to prohibit involuntary institutionalization and forced medication? When would
The delegation was asked to explain what it was doing to ensure that the national register of citizens in the
The Internet services in
Responses by the Delegation
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act recognized 21 categories of disabilities, which ensured that psychosocial and intellectual disabilities were adequately captured. There was a fine line between mental health care and mental health rehabilitation and the two could not be divorced but had to work together.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act mandated the Government to take steps to protect persons with disabilities, women and children in particular, from all forms of abuse, violence and exploitation. It included the provision of protective custody, if needed, and any police officer who received a complaint or news of abuse of any person with disabilities was under the obligation to inform the person of his or her right to apply for protection.
Intentional insult with intent to humiliate a person with disabilities in any public place, as well as the use of violence against a person with disabilities, including denial of food or water, were punishable by imprisonment and a fine.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act was applicable throughout the national territory but disabilities as a subject of the
Another delegate stressed that the physical empowerment of persons with disabilities eventually led to their social, educational, economic and psychological empowerment as well. Such a scheme had been in place since the 1980s, under which different types of aid and assistive devices had been provided to persons with disabilities, in a very transparent manner. In 2014, the scheme had been revised to take into consideration the advancement in science and technology and to bring into its ambit modern assistive devices such smart phones.
Children with hearing disabilities up to the age of six could benefit under the cochlear implant programme. Over the last four years, about 1,000 children had had cochlear implant surgeries and had "become normal children" who led totally normal lives.
In 2014, the Indian Government had started organizing camps for the distribution of aid and assistive devices all over the country. A total of 7,824 camps had been organized to date, from which over 13 million persons with disabilities had benefited. A memorandum of understanding had been signed with a British company in 2018 for the provision of high-quality wheelchairs with the latest technology, which would be made available to persons with disabilities during the year.
Turning to the participation and representation of persons with disabilities, the delegate stressed the importance of the
Two programmes were in place to mainstream legal aid through common service centres, while another provided legal aid through pro bono advocates to eligible persons. More than 6,000 persons with disabilities had received court-based legal aid and services from
The concept of limited guardianship as embodied in the Act was based on the principle of supported decision-making. It had been decided upon during consultations across the country which included persons with disabilities. There was no consensus in the country as to the best approach, she emphasized.
In response to the question on the availability of medicines in
All the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016, its benefits and protections, were applicable across the country, including in
Indian laws prohibited torture and the right to life was enshrined in the
Turning to the abandonment of children with disabilities, Ms.
Responding to concerns raised about legal aid for persons with disabilities in the
Questions from the Experts
In the final round of questions, Committee Experts stressed the right of persons with disabilities to the protection of their privacy and the right to a home and family life, and asked about the efforts to harmonize laws on marriage and family with the Convention. What measures were being taken to prevent the abandonment of children with disabilities by their parents?
How did
Experts commended
The official data and statistics indicated the prevalence of disability of three per cent, while according to the
MONTHIAN BUNTAN, Committee Rapporteur for
Responses by the Delegation
There were organizations made up of persons with disabilities working for persons with disabilities, as well as organizations working for persons with disabilities. The
Every child had the right to free quality education up to the age of 18 in the nearest school or in a special school of his or her choice. The
Concluding Remarks
Given the size of the population and its diversity,
RISNAWATI UTAMI, Committee Co-Rapporteur for
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