Monday, October 29, 2012

Statue of Liberty is now officially barrier free


Dear Friends,

28 October 2012

A good news for the accessible tourism sector! Coinciding with the monument’s 126th birthday, the iconic Crown of the Statue of Liberty will reopen on October 28, 2012, after being closed for a year for renovations to make the New York landmark safer and more accessible to people in wheelchairs.

The renovations include new staircases and an elevator that will make the tourist attraction  more accessible for persons with disabilities. For the first time, tourist in wheelchairs will be able to access the observation decks. The final cost for the renovations totaled about $30 million.

There are also more stairs than ever before, with a daunting 393 steps to the crown, where there were previously 354 slightly steeper steps. Wheelchair accessible elevators inside the pedestal bring visitors to just below Lady Liberty's sandals.

The statue is 151 feet from base to torch. It sits atop the 89-foot (27-meter) tall stone pedestal, which sits on a 65-foot (20-meter) tall foundation in the shape of a star.

Visitors in wheelchairs, who could view the statue only from the ground before, can now ascend to the top of statue's pedestal and see inside the structure. Though they can not access inside the body of the statute still due to design constraints.

Designed by Frédéric Bartholdi, the iconic statue in New York Harbor, the statue, a gift from France to the United States, was dedicated in 1886 and declared a national monument in 1924. In 2009, the crown was reopened to the public for the first time since the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Post Offices in Delhi are inaccessible but Deptt. claims otherwise


29 October 2012,

NEW DELHI: Gulmohar Park's post office exists in the basement of DDA market, down a flight of stairs in a structure with no ramps or lift. That, however, hasn't deterred the south division of the India Post from declaring it "barrier-free" in its reply to an RTI enquiry filed by Dr Satyendra Singh, professor of physiology at University College of Medical Sciences and doctor at GTB Hospital.

Singh, himself disabled, filed a query under RTI Act in July requesting information from the postal department on the levels of accessibility at Delhi post offices. The reply is worrying as many first-floor post offices have no lifts and many of those declared "barrier-free" have stairs leading to them.

South division claims 65 of their 67 post offices (including Gulmohar Park's), are "barrier-free". The ones at Chittaranjan Park and Kailash Colony, it admits, are on the first floor "without any facility of lift". South division also claims that "ramps have been constructed for free movement of wheelchairs" and "height of all the counters has been lowered for easy access".

West division, too, claims "all the post offices of this division are easily accessible and barrier-free". "The two post offices in Rajouri Garden are both on the ground floor. The one in Janta Market has a very high pavement in front of it and the one in the main market is on a narrow and potholed bylane frequently flooded by sewage water and is slippery. A visually-impaired person can't reach that one," says Singh. The postal department didn't reply to his queries immediately but responded only after a first appeal was filed.

Singh travels 10 kilometers to Vasundhara, Ghaziabad, to send a speed post as the post offices closer to home all are inaccessible. "We only have impairments, it's the society which makes us disabled," he says.

North division runs 81 post offices of which 14 are above ground-floor or occupy multiple-floors. As per the division's own admission, "there is no provision of lifts in any post office building". However, the division had written to the executive engineer, postal civil division, for providing assistance as per the Disability Act, in seven post offices (including Ashok Vihar, Civil Lines, Malka Ganj and Rohini Sector 7) first in January 2009 and again in July and September, 2010, "but the needful has not been done yet". Southwest division runs 60 post offices, mostly from rented buildings, and 46 of them don't have ramps for wheelchairs. None of the post offices in the southwest division are on the first floor.

In central division, four post offices are operating from first-floors, "without having the lift" or any "separate arrangement for the people with disability". East division, too, states that "no post office under this division is with the facility of lift" and "no facilities were provided" for people with disability on POs above ground-floor. They say that barring seven post offices (at Krishna Nagar, Azad Nagar, Old Seemapuri, Mayur Vihar, Shahdaramandi, Gandhi Nagar Bazar and GTB Hospital), the rest of their 62 offices are "accessible to all persons with disabilities". Apparently, the stairs (without even handrails) at the PO in Jhilmil Industrial Area are not a barrier.

In the first question, Singh had sought "accessibility status" and explained what he meant by adding parenthetically, "whether accessible/barrier-free or not to persons with disabilities". In reply to this query, the office of the director, General Post Office, informs, "The GPO is centrally located and it is, therefore, accessible for all".





4 November 2012

KOLKATA, 4 NOV: Dr Satendra Singh travels kilometres to post letters, even though there is a post office on the campus of the hospital where he works. “I don't like to tell people, you do this for me,” he said.

Dr Singh, who had polio which left him disabled, is an assistant professor of physiology at the University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital, Delhi. He said he had sent many letters to the hospital superintendent to tell him that the on-campus post office couldn't be easily accessed by him, but didn't get a reply.

Starting to think about accessibility elsewhere also, Dr Singh said, “I decided I should know the status of all the post offices in the Capital of the nation.” A series of RTI responses show that many post offices in the Capital lack the facilities that would bring them in line with the country's obligations as a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, he said.

The Delhi East Division office's response listed seven of the post offices in their zone that are not accessible, for example. The Central Division said, “as per records no such facilities have been provided” in response to his request for details of “all the standard facilities for barrier-free access made available for the Persons with Disability.”

South Division officials said in their response that 65 of their 67 post offices  are “barrier-free”, but two ~ one at Chittaranjan Park and the other at Kailash Colony ~ are on the first floor “without any facility of lift”.

Dr Singh was also surprised that the only complaint about accessibility in post offices had, in fact, been filed by him.

“It is shocking. But I am not only blaming the post offices but also the community that they are just sitting there.” He said, in his opinion, this silence is a sign of real disability. “If somebody is not raising his voice, he is truly a disabled person.” If post offices were made accessible, it wouldn't only help the disabled, he said, but also senior citizens and young children.

Dr Singh was also concerned about the response from the Office of the Director of the General Post Office to the questions asking about the “accessible status” of the New Delhi General Post Office, and specifically “whether it is accessible/barrier-free or not to Persons with Disabilities (PwD)”.

“New Delhi GPO is centrally located, it is therefore accessible to all,” the response said. “They thought accessibility meant connectivity,” said Dr Singh.

“A person at a very senior post is not aware of the definition of accessibility, what about lower people...”.

Source: The Stateman

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

New 1100 DTC Buses being bought by Dehi Govt will be inaccessible!

Dear Colleagues, 


The Delhi Cabinet has cleared purchase of 1100 high floor buses (I do not call them standard floor buses since modern Low Floor is the standard for the persons with disabilities!)



"Currently, DTC has 5,667 buses, out of which 3,781 are modern low-floor buses, purchased over the last five years. “The remaining 1,886 buses are obsolete,” said a senior Delhi government official. 



We were waiting these buses to go away from the Delhi roads to be replaced by the standard low floor buses so that the entire fleet could boast off to be accessible and disabled friendly. However, this sudden decision of the Government of Delhi to replace the rickety old high floor buses with new high floor buses is not reason for us to be happy. These buses from day one are useless, obsolete, inaccessible and disabled unfriendly, hence not welcomed.



It would be prudent on the part of the Government of Delhi to consider replacing these old buses with low floor only so that we achieve an aim of inclusive and barrier free society that provides its services based on universal design of products and not on exclusive designs for various segments. I find no alternate to this given the fact that all our pedestrian infrastructure and the bus q shelters in Delhi are built keeping the low floor bus as the standard to allow easy access to all. 



The disability sector could have agreed to even high floor buses provided the corresponding street infrastructure especially the boarding and de-boarding points are made in tune with the high floor and that the bus allows easy access to the disabled. This may only happen in a dedicated BRT system where the height of new bus q shelters may be kept accordingly. However, this doesn't seem to be the planning of the Government. 



We are raising our voice against this decision. The Government must think of promoting inclusive cities to realize the mandate of UNCRPD and stop taking arbitrary decisions that exclude the disabled and the elderly from its urban and transport planning.



The city is already troubled with the high foot paths being built by the PWD after the maintenance of roads was taken away by the Delhi Government from the MCD over the later's inaction.



Below is the coverage from Indian Express:






New Delhi, Tue Oct 23 2012,


With the Delhi Cabinet clearing the way for the purchase of 1,100 standard-floor CNG buses, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will start the process of replacing obsolete vehicles in its fleet. The new buses will cost the Delhi government around Rs 330 crore and will be purchased through a global tender.


Following a meeting of the Delhi Cabinet on Monday, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the government was taking steps to improve public transport in the city. “There is an urgent need to replace 1,886 standard-floor buses, which have completed their prescribed life for economic run,” Dikshit said.



She said the plying of such buses was causing loss to DTC and affecting its image.



The buses will be purchased with maintenance for 7,50,000 km or 12 years of operations, whichever is later. “The buses will be purchased through a global tender. In the DTC fleet of 5,667 buses, 3,781 are low-floor variants while the remaining 1,886 are obsolete and hence not dependable,” Dikshit said.



She said the new non-AC buses would be purchased at the earliest.





WCAG 2.0 is now ISO/IEC 40500:2012 International Standard

Dear Colleagues,

A welcome news for all of us. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Joint Technical Committee JTC 1, Information Technology of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC), announced approval of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 as an ISO/IEC International Standard (ISO/IEC 40500:2012).

“This important accessibility standard, which is already widely deployed internationally, can now benefit from additional formal recognition from ISO/IEC national bodies,” noted Jeff Jaffe, W3C CEO. “Such recognition is expected to increase internationally harmonized uptake of WCAG 2.0 by governments, business, and the broader Web community.”

“ISO/IEC JTC 1 is very pleased to bring on board this most important of W3C accessibility standards, given the increased interest in accessibility among JTC 1 National Bodies in recent years,” said Karen Higginbottom, Chair of ISO/IEC JTC 1. “We also expect that ISO/IEC recognition will encourage greater convergence around WCAG 2.0, further driving development of supporting tools and software.”

International Harmonization of Accessibility standards benefits all

WCAG 2.0 has been adopted or referenced by many governments and organizations. Following the passage of the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, an increasing number of countries have been seeking solutions to address their treaty commitments for information technology accessibility for people with disabilities.

“The ISO/IEC imprimatur increases the avenues for adoption of W3C technology and guidelines,” noted Judy Brewer, Director of the Web Accessibility Initiative at W3C. “In some countries, policies require that nationally adopted technical standards must be ISO/IEC. Formal approval by JTC 1 of WCAG 2.0 will increase deployment, reduce fragmentation, and provide all users with greater interoperability on the web.”

WCAG 2.0 was first submitted to the ISO/IEC JTC 1 process for Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) in October 2011. W3C has been an approved JTC 1 PAS Submitter since November 2010, and is one of nine organizations that are currently approved. To learn more about W3C and the ISO/IEC JTC1 PAS Submission process, see the W3C PAS FAQ and the JTC 1 website.

WCAG 2.0 is a stable standard with extensive supporting resources

As an ISO/IEC JTC 1 Standard, WCAG 2.0 is now also available from ISO/IEC, while it remains a stable international W3C standard with extensive supporting resources. JTC 1 recognition neither changes nor supercedes the existing standard, which remains freely available from the W3C website along with multiple W3C authorized translations of WCAG 2.0.

W3C provides a number of supporting resources for managers, developers and policy-makers, in addition to the WCAG 2.0 standard, including WCAG 2.0 Overview,WCAG 2.0 at a Glance, How to Meet WCAG 2.0: A Customizable Quick Reference, Techniques for WCAG 2.0, and Understanding WCAG 2.0.

For more information, visit www.w3c.org

Monday, October 15, 2012

RTI to surmount mindsets and expose graft: Shobu Ram, visually challenged activist from HP


Dear colleagues,

Shobu Ram's long journey to  restore the rights of the visually challenged in the state of Himachal Pradesh saw him use RTI effectively to the expose several scams and irregularities that perpetrate injustice on the disabled brethren in the state. Himachal has taken several steps, however, there is a long way to go still.


Visually challenged man wields RTI to surmount mindsets, expose graft

Shobhu Ram, a prominent activist from H.P., uses the Act to empower others of his ilk in his State

Shobhu Ram can be mistaken for just another visually challenged person, who also works as an announcer in the Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation, but beneath the veneer lies a strong fighter for the rights of the disabled in general and for the rights of the visually challenged in particular. Mr. Ram is a prominent activist who is using the Right to Information Act 2005 to empower everybody like him in Himachal Pradesh.

He was part of the delegation of activists who represented Himachal Pradesh at the two-day 7th annual convention of the Central Information Commission (CIC) that culminated on Saturday.

By using the RTI Act, Mr. Ram has exposed several loopholes and cases of corruption in the implementation of government schemes for the visually challenged. For instance, he filed RTI queries and brought out documents which showed that there are a series of cases where people who were not visually challenged got the medical certificate of being “blind” and subsequently got employment in the reserved category of “visually challenged.”

Out of around 700 grade II and III jobs reserved for the visually challenged in Himachal Pradesh, only 447 have been filled, revealed the State government response to another RTI query by Mr. Ram. Interestingly when he accessed the employment documents of the 447, it turned out that at least 300 did not have the educational and medical records to support their visually challenged claim.

“I am going to register a complaint with the State Disability Commission about this fraud going on in the State,” says Mr. Ram, who formed the “Blind Persons Association” in 1998 to fight for the rights of the visually challenged.

Mr. Ram thinks that the Act can be used to ensure that the marginalised get their due rights but says that even after seven years of the Act being in force, it has not been properly utilised. The law also needs to be sensitive to the disabled and visually challenged, he says.

“How are we supposed to read the documents which the public authorities provide me as answers to my RTI query?” he asks, suggesting that the visually challenged should be provided with RTI answers and other documents in Braille script.

Asking the CIC to take cognisance of their special needs, Mr. Ram argues: “The ideal situation is that everybody has a computer and scanner with speaking software but at present that is not the case.”

Asked about the behaviour of the State agencies and public institutions in Himachal Pradesh, Mr. Ram, who is the first journalism graduate of his State, says the general pattern is that of “extreme indifference.” He puts his own example as a case in point.

When he applied for the post of the District Public Relations Officer in 2010, he cleared the written stage. But he was rejected by the panel in the interview round even though he was the only candidate for the post reserved for the visually challenged.

Ajai Srivastava, who is an activist working on disabled rights and whose organisation “Umang Foundation” collaborates with “Blind Persons Association” on a variety of issues, says: “You fight for your rights not with people but with mindsets. The usual view plaguing the State departments is that a 100 per cent blind [person] cannot work. So they somehow or other reject them in a competition for a job.

Friday, October 12, 2012

उच्चतम न्यायालय ने हमें सूचना आयुक्त की मनमानी से मुक्ति प्रदान कर दी है.

साथियों,


हमारे मित्र श्री कृष्णराज राव द्वारा भेजे गए लेख तो आप सब की जानकारी हेतु नीचे प्रस्तुत कर रहा हूँ। आशा है कि हमारे आरटीआई कार्यकर्ता और जानकारी चाहने वाले  इससे लाभान्वित होंगे! 

सप्रेम 
सुभाष चन्द्र वशिष्ठ 


उच्चतम न्यायालय ने हमें सूचना आयुक्त की मनमानी से मुक्ति प्रदान कर दी है.



मुंबई, 17 सितम्बर 2012: 13 सितम्बर 2012 का दिन सभी आरटीआई कार्यकर्ताओं और सभी नागरिकों के लिए एक उत्सव का दिन हैक्योंकि उच्चतम न्यायालय ने हमारे रास्ते की सबसे बड़ी बाधा को दूर कर दिया हैअर्थात केंद्रीय और राज्य सरकारों की सूचना आयुक्तों के रूप में सेवानिवृत्त नौकरशाहों की नियुक्ति करनेयानी उन स्थानों में अपने स्वयं के व्यक्तियों को रखने की प्रवृत्ति कोन्यायमूर्ति स्वतंत्र कुमार ने नमित शर्मा बनाम भारतीय संघ के मुक़दमे के ऐतिहासिक फैसले में स्पष्ट रूप से निर्देश दिया है कि सभी सूचना आयोगों कोएक अच्छी कानूनी पृष्ठभूमि वाले न्यायिक सदस्य के साथ व्यक्ति के साथद्वि-व्यक्ति बेंचों के रूप में कार्य करना आश्यक हैराज्य सरकारों और केंद्र सरकार के लिएनियुक्ति से कम से कम तीन माह पहले विज्ञप्ति देने के बादऔर शेष प्रक्रिया का अनुपालन करने के बादसूचना आयुक्तों के उचित चयन के लिए नियम बनाना भी अनिवार्य कर दिया गया है.


इस अत्यंत दूरगामी फैसले में, उच्चतम न्यायालय ने स्वयं के अंतर्गत अर्धन्यायिक निकायों के रूप में सूचना आयोगों को स्वामित्व में लिया है, न कि नौकरशाहों के लिए सेवानिवृत्ति गृह के रूप में. "हम मानते हैं कि यह कानून का एक निर्विवाद प्रस्ताव है कि आयोग न्यायिक और अर्धन्यायिक प्रकृति के कार्यों को करता हुआ और न्यायालय से सम्बन्ध रखने वाला एक न्यायिक प्राधिकरण' है. यह एक महत्वपूर्ण दांता है. यह उन मंत्रिमंडलीय न्यायाधिकरण के विपरीत है, जो प्रशासन की प्रणाली से अधिक प्रभावित और नियंत्रित है और प्रशासन की मशीनरी के समान कार्य करता है,” ऐसा निर्णय में कहा गया है.
Translated into Hindi by Supriya Deshpande <honyakuremedies@gmail.com>

आज सूचना प्राप्त करने वाले के लिए, सबसे बड़ा भय यह है कि सभी राज्यों में और केंद्र में अधिकांश सूचना आयुक्तों का स्वयं तक सीमित कानून है, ऐसे आदेश देते हैं जिनके कानूनी तर्क कमजोर होते हैं या फिर कोई तर्क नहीं होता. वे उन जन सूचना अधिकारियोंसे सख्त व्यवहार नहीं करते, जो लगातार जानकारी देने से मना करते हैं. सूचना आयुक्त स्पष्टत: ऐसे अतार्किक और अवैध द्वितीय-अपील आदेश जारी करते हैं जिससे सूचना प्राप्त करने वाले को किसी भी प्रकार की कोई राहत नहीं मिलती! इस प्रकार, सूचना का अधिकार अधिनियम, जो नागरिक को समय पर और सही सूचना की गारंटी देता है,असफल हो जाता है.
"इस निर्णय का एक प्रतिकूल परिणाम यह है कि सभी सूचना आयोगों ने कार्य बंद रखना होगा, जब तक कि न्यायिक पृष्ठभूमि वाले सदस्यों की नियुक्ति नहीं हो जाती. वर्तमान मुख्य सूचना आयुक्त के कार्यकाल की समाप्ति के बाद, कोई गैर-न्यायिक विशेषज्ञ कभी भी मुख्य सूचना आयुक्त के रूप में नियुक्त नहीं किया जाएगा. अतः इस फैसले से सभी सूचना आयोगों के सभी कार्यों में रूकावट की सम्भावना है, जब तक बेंच के गठन के लिए मापदंड पूरे नहीं हो जाते," सीएचआरआई के वेंकटेश नायक(nayak.venkatesh@gmail.com, 9871050555) ने टिप्पणी की. भय है कि सूचना आयोगों के कार्यों को कुछ महीनों के लिए एक पक्षघात (paralysis) हो जाएगा. "जब तक नई नियुक्तियां की जाती हैं, पीआईओ और एफएए खुशी से मामलों को स्थगित कर सकते हैं.सूचना का अधिकार अधिनियम के लिए, देश भर में अगले कई महीनों के लिए ऎसा रुख हो सकता है", वेंकटेश नायक लिखते हैं.

हालांकि, कुछ ही आरटीआई कार्यकर्ताओं ने वेंकटेश नायक की निराशा में साथ दिया है.RTIIndia.org, आरटीआई कार्यकर्ताओं की अग्रणी ऑनलाइन हब, के मुख्य सभापति सी जै करीरा (cjkarira@gmail.com, 9848203583) उत्साहित हैं. "यह बिलकुल वैसा ही आदेश है जिसके लिए देश भर में सभी आरटीआई कार्यकर्ताओं ने प्रार्थना की है" करीरा भावविभोर होकर कहते हैं. "मुझे लगता है कि यह हमारे लिए शैंपेन की बोतलें खोलने और सड़कों में जश्न मनाने का समय है, क्योंकि किसी भी अस्थायी देरी के बावजूद, बुरे आदेशों के साथ आरटीआई अधिनियम को जानबूझकर तोड़मरोड़कर पेश करने वाले बाबुओं के दिन समाप्त हो गए है."


उच्चतम न्यायालय के आदेश की प्रतिलिपि देखें जहां निर्देशों को हाईलाइट किया गया है:http://tiny.cc/SC-Judgment-CIC-SIC-Appt

आदेश में खूबसूरती से तर्क दिया गया है, और यह सभी आरटीआई कार्यकर्ताओं के दिलों में अपार आनंद प्रदान करेगा.

मुख्य बिंदु :
1) यह निर्णय सूचना आयोगों के सदस्यों के रूप में अनिवार्य रूप से सेवानिवृत्त न्यायाधीशों की नियुक्ति करता है.
2) सभी राज्यों में और केंद्र में, मुख्य सूचना आयुक्त का पद सेवानिवृत्त न्यायाधीशों के लिए आरक्षित हो जाएगा.
3) सभी बेंच द्वि-सदस्यीय- एक न्यायिक विशेषज्ञ और एक गैर- न्यायिक विशेषज्ञ होने चाहिए.
4) सरकार को नियुक्तियों की प्रक्रिया में भ्रम और मनमानेपन की स्थिति को हटाने के लिए कानून की धारा 12 और 15 में संशोधन करने की सलाह दी गयी है. वेंकटेश नायक लिखते हैं, "क़ानून में परिवर्तन की सलाह देना न्यायालय के लिए एक दुर्लभ बात है,लेकिन उन्होंने इस बार ऐसा किया है.उच्चतम न्यायालय ने कहा, "विधायिका के लिए अधिनियम की धाराओं 12(5), 12(6) और 15(5), 15(6) के प्रावधानों में संशोधन करने की परम आवश्यकता है. हम देखते हैं और आशा करते हैं कि किसी भी अस्पष्टता या अव्यवहारिकता से बचने के लिए और इसे संवैधानिक जनादेश के अनुरूप बनाने के लिए इन प्रावधानों को विधायिका द्वारा जल्द से जल्द संशोधित किया जाएगा.वर्तमान में,अस्पष्टता को, राज्य सरकारों द्वारा नौकरशाहों और उनके चहेतों की पक्षपातपूर्ण नियुक्तियां करने के लिए इस्तेमाल किया जा रहा है.
5) सूचना आयुक्तों की मनमानीपूर्ण और अवैध आदेश जारी करने की प्रवृत्ति से निपटने के लिए, न्यायालय ने कहा है सभी सूचना आयुक्त उच्च न्यायालयों तथा उच्चतम न्यायालय और सूचना आयुक्तों की बड़ी बेंचों की तुलना में पूर्व-निर्णयों के सिद्धांत हेतु बाध्य हैं.वेंकटेश ने कहा "अच्छी बात यह है कि यह सिद्धांत समान शक्ति वाली बेंचों द्वारा दिए गए पूर्व निर्णयों का विस्तार नहीं करता".
6) उच्चतम न्यायालय ने निर्देश दिया है कि केन्द्र सरकार और/या सक्षम प्राधिकारी को छह महीने की अवधि के भीतर सभी सूचना आयोगों को कानून के बुनियादी नियमों के अनुरूप और प्रभावी रूप से कार्यशील बनाने के लिए सभी अभ्यास और प्रक्रिया से संबंधित नियमों को तैयार करना करना चाहिए. "गैरकानूनी और असंवैधानिक आदेश, विभिन्न राज्यों और केन्द्र में अधिकतर आरटीआई अपीलकर्ताओं की एक समस्या है,” सी जै करीराने टिप्पणी की.
7) उच्चतम न्यायालय ने निर्देश दिया है कि प्रथम अपीलीय प्राधिकारी (अर्थात अधिनियम2005 की धारा 5 के अंतर्गत नामित किए जाने वाले वरिष्ठ अधिकारी) मुख्यतः कानून में एक डिग्री रखने वाले या कानून के क्षेत्र में पर्याप्त ज्ञान और अनुभव रखने वाले व्यक्ति होने चाहिए. "इस बात का निहितार्थ यह है कि प्रथम अपील के स्तर पर मनमाने ढंग से फैसले के दिन भी जल्द ही खत्म हो जायेंगे" कार्यकर्ता जीआर वोरा (grvora1@gmail.com,9869195785) का ऐसा मानना है.
8) उच्चतम न्यायालय ने सभी सूचना आयोगों को अब से प्रत्येक दो सदस्यों की बेंच में कार्य करने का निर्देश दिया है. उनमें से एक न्यायिक सदस्य होना चाहिए, जबकि दूसरा एक' विशेषज्ञ सदस्य' होना चाहिए. न्यायिक सदस्य कानून में डिग्री रखने वाला, न्यायिक तौर पर प्रशिक्षित मस्तिष्क और न्यायिक कार्यों को करने के लिए अनुभव युक्त - वह व्यक्ति जो विज्ञापन की तिथि तक कम से कम बीस साल की अवधि के लिए कानून की प्रैक्टिस किया हुआ होना चाहिए. ऐसे वकीलों को सामाजिक कार्य का भी अनुभव होना चाहिए. उच्च न्यायालय के न्यायाधीशों को इस पद हेतु वरीयता दी जायेगी.
9) केंद्र या राज्य स्तर पर मुख्य सूचना आयुक्त केवल वह व्यक्ति होगा जो या तो उच्च न्यायालय या भारत के उच्चतम न्यायालय का एक न्यायाधीश है या रह चुका है.
इन पदों में से किसी के लिए भी न्यायिक सदस्यों की नियुक्ति भारत के मुख्य न्यायाधीश और संबंधित राज्यों के उच्च न्यायालयों के मुख्य न्यायाधीशों की परामर्श पर की जायेगी,जो भी मामले में संभव हो.
10) दोनों स्तरों पर सूचना आयुक्तों की नियुक्ति केंद्र के मामले में डीओपीटी और एक राज्य के मामले में संबंधित मंत्रालय द्वारा पैनल में शामिल व्यक्तियों के बीच से किया जाना चाहिए. पैनल को विज्ञापन से पूर्व और एक तर्कसंगत आधार पर तैयार किया जाता है जैसा कि पहले दर्ज में किया गया है.
11) उच्चतम न्यायालय ने अनिवार्य कर दिया है कि नियुक्ति के लिए नाम प्रस्तावित करने की एक निष्पक्ष और पारदर्शी विधि अपनाई जानी चाहिए. चयन प्रक्रिया पद रिक्त होने से कम से कम तीन महीने पहले शुरू की जानी चाहिए.

आधार रेखा: आरटीआई कार्यकर्ताओं और जानकारी चाहने वालों के लिए एक अधिक दूरगामी और सकारात्मक विकास की कल्पना करना मुश्किल है!

कृष्णराज राव
9821588114

SC issues Notice to Centre on RTE Act

SC issues notice on Right to Education Act

The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Central Government on a Right to Education petition seeking exemption for unaided educational institutions

New Delhi, Oct 8: The Supreme Court Monday issued notice to the Central Government on a petition seeking exemption for unaided educational institutions from earmarking 25 percent seats for students from the weaker sections of the society.

Unaided minority educational institutions are exempted from doing so under the Right to Education Act, 2009, which calls for reserving 25 percent seats for socially and economically backward sections of the society.

An apex court bench of Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Dipak Misra issued the notice after senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi contended that Article 15(5) was ultra vires of the basic structure of the constitution as it discriminated between two similarly placed category of educational institutions on the basis of their minority and non-minority status.
  
Seeking that the matter on the constitutional vires of the Article 15(5) be examined by the atleast five judges constitution bench, Mr. Rohtagi said that the constitution envisages equal status for minority and majority.

It would be against the scheme of the constitution to put minority on a higher pedestal then the majority community. Mr. Rohtagi was assisted by counsel Govind Goel.

The court was told that the Article 145(3) of the constitution provides that a bench of atleast five judges could only hear a case involving the substantial question of law and the interpretation of the constitutional provisions or for hearing any presidential reference.

Read more on...... I Government.

Friday, October 5, 2012

State Bank of India to transform 2500 ATMs as Talking ATMs

Dear Colleagues,

Wonderful news for all our blind brethern. State Bank of India - the largest public sector bank in India with established reach in rural India will transform over 2500 Bank ATMs to Voice guided ATMs (Talking ATMs) that will benefit the visually impaired users. Earlier Union Bank of India has launched its talking ATMs.

Here is the news report from Biztech2.com


Supporting RBI’s objective of providing financial accessibility to every citizen in India irrespective of his or her disability, NCR Corporation, the ATM service provider, will transform over 2,500 State Bank of India (SBI) ATMs to Voice-Guided ATMs -- which not only allows access to visually impaired people but also people with physical disabilities through ramps for wheel chair access. SBIs first real ATM for the visually impaired was showcased at Antarchakshu, a sensitisation workshop, organised by Xavier's Research Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC) at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

NCR's Talking ATMs are incorporated with unique software and hardware features which ensure that a person with a disability can operate the machine on his own, while maintaining the safety of the transaction. These ATM machines are designed as per Access for All (AFA) standards and comprises of accessible key pads, voice-guidance technology, Braille stickers and multi-lingual capability. Apart from reading aloud screen messages, the machine also provides complete orientation making it easy for the customer to use the machine. An important security feature of this ATM is that it provides the person an option to blank out the screen as a safety mechanism to avoid shoulder surfing by any by-stander trying to access customer data during the transaction.

Nagesh Nayak, Professional Services Practice Manager, NCR said, “We are proud to partner with SBI which is India’s largest banking and financial services company to upgrade their ATMs for the disabled. As a concerned corporate, NCR is constantly reinventing innovation for the Indian market place and this specialised ATM is a clear reflection of it. Indian banks and financial institutions are quickly realising the need to adopt self-service technologies to include the millions of differently-abled people into the financial stream and NCR is committed to helping these institutions by providing technologies that are conceptualised, created, and manufactured in India.”

The NCR Talking ATM uses a text-to-speech engine which allows voicing-out the text on the screen in multiple languages for consumer convenience. Instead to issuing Special Cards for the customers with disabilities since it can become difficult to maintain track of whether the correct card has been issued, SBI has chosen to make its existing ATM network, AFA compliant by simply customising their existing ATM software stack and upgrading the hardware configuration of its ATM fleet.

India has one of the largest visually impaired populations in the world and hence the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) through its circulars in 2008 and 2009 stated that all banking services including ATM cards need to be offered to customers with disabilities without any discrimination.

At the Antarchasku event, Dr. Sam Taraporevala, Director of XRCVC said, “For the XRCVC it is a very proud moment to witness the roll out of a large number of SBI ATMs. Antarchakshu at JNU New Delhi, has the privilege of hosting one such ATM. The event will go a long way at creating the necessary awareness and sensitisation so necessary to promote financial, educational and employment opportunities.”