Friday, September 6, 2013

Gurgaon Mall faces ire for harassing Child with autism


Ashok Kumar
GURGAON, September 5, 2013

“Though India has a sizeable population of people with special needs, the society still seems to be less receptive to such people and their needs. Unfortunately, sometimes even the educated people in India seem to lack the empathy for people with special needs and treat them as a burden,” this is what a U.S. resident and the mother of a teenaged boy with autism, who was discriminated against at a mall here, had to say following the unseemly incident.

The mother-son duo had to face discrimination at the hands of an “English-speaking” photo studio owner in DLF Phase-II here when they went there to get photographs clicked for a PAN card.

Attracted towards a balloon on the counter of a photo studio in Central Arcade, when the 15-year-old boy tried to reach out and grab it, the studio owner first asked the woman to take away the teenager and later flatly refused to click their pictures.

Appalled by the insensitive behaviour, the boy’s mother Harshita Mahajan, recalled how the shop owner just refused to tolerate her son inside the shop despite she trying to reason with him that the boy had to be with her and even offering to pay for any damages.

“I created a scene at the shop over it because people should know about it. Such behaviour should not be tolerated. The people with special needs also have a right to be as much part of society as anyone else. They should be allowed to use public spaces like malls, shops and parks. They should not be discriminated against. They need a bit of love and tolerance. After all, they did not ask to be born with disability. A healthy person today may also become dependent on others tomorrow,” said Ms. Mahajan, who also posted the incident on her Facebook page evoking immediate response from her friends.

Ms. Mahajan, a resident of Ohio in the United States, emphasised the need to sensitise the Indian society towards the people with special needs.

“In the United States, people have become more sensitised over the past two to three decades. I do not remember anybody taking a second look at my son in the US, whereas in India he is not even allowed inside a shop. In India, people who have children with special needs are scared to come out in the public. Their children are stared at, poked fun at. It needs to be changed. Those with special needs are wonderful human beings, they are pure. They are not involved in the kinds of horrific crimes that become the headlines of newspapers every other day,” Ms. Mahajan made a point.

Vikram, the shopkeeper, said: “The boy appeared to be normal, was not obeying his mother. He had broken a gift item and we only requested his mother not to take him inside the studio as he could damage the expensive cameras. My cousin is a special child and one of my employees is also deaf and dumb. It is not correct to say that we are insensitive.”

Accessibility to be standalone goal post 2015 for DPI



Aarti Dhar, September 6, 2013

Disabled People’s International wants disability to be a standalone goal in the post-2015 Development Agenda.

As the global development fraternity and political leaders gear up to discuss the post-2015 Development Goals during the UN General Assembly Meetings in New York this month, the disability sector has expressed serious concern over the non–inclusion of disability as a focused goal in the report of the High Level Panel (HLP) on the post-2015 development agenda.

“In the year 2000, when the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were formulated, it was assumed that they would automatically apply to persons with disabilities. There was also some effort by the United Nations and a few international organisations to create awareness in this regard among various stakeholders. However, two years before its deadline for completion, none of the goals have been met for persons with disabilities. This is a mistake that the world cannot afford to make again. Therefore, the discussions and deliberations on Post -2015 Development Goals will have a significant bearing on the lives of one billion people with disabilities,” says Javed Abidi, chairperson, Disabled People’s International (DPI) who will participate in the High Level Meeting on Disability & Development in New York.

The HLP report states, “We should ensure that no person– regardless of ethnicity, gender, geography, disability, race or other status– is denied universal human rights and basic economic opportunities.” Further, the report has stated quite emphatically that, “Targets should only be considered ‘achieved’ if they are met for all relevant income and social groups.” However, DPI is of the opinion that this would not be enough to achieve the goals for persons with disabilities in the post-2015 development agenda.

Calling for inclusion of a stand-alone goal on disability in the post-2015 development agenda, similar on the lines of gender which has been addressed in the HLP report, the DPI has proposed specific targets/indicators for persons with disabilities under each goal.

Affirmative action

The DPI wants that the poverty line be adjusted to include disability costs and ensure that all general poverty alleviation and social protection policies and schemes have accessibility, accommodation and affirmative action for persons with disabilities.

Similarly, all policies and programmes, infrastructure and systems related to empowerment and rights of women should have a special component for women with disabilities so that such women with special needs are not discriminated against, the DPI has said.

More than one billion people in the world live with some form of disability, of who nearly 200 million experience considerable difficulties in functioning. In the years ahead, disability will be an even greater concern because its prevalence is on the rise. This is due to ageing populations and the higher risk of disability in older people as well as the global increase in chronic health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mental health disorders.

About 80 per cent of people with disabilities live in developing countries, 82 per cent live below the poverty line and 20 per cent of this group are the poorest of the poor.

Mortality for children with disabilities may be as high as 80 per cent in countries where the under-five mortality as a whole has decreased below 20 per cent, according to the United Kingdom's Department for International Development, adding that in some cases it seems as if disabled children are being "weeded out".

According to data available with Child Line, Lucknow, of the 27 new born abandoned children between 2007-08, 21 were female and ‘handicapped’ either mentally or physically. Amongst boys, 10 of the 19 found abandoned, were ‘handicapped’.

Education wanting

UNESCO studies have suggested that only one-two per cent of children with disabilities in developing countries receive any education. In developing countries, 80-90 per cent of people with disabilities of working age are unemployed.

It is estimated that only two per cent of people with disabilities in developing countries have access to rehabilitation and appropriate basic services. Women and girls with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to abuse. A survey in 2004, in Orissa, India, found that virtually all of the women and girls with disabilities were beaten at home, 25 per cent of women with intellectual disabilities had been raped and six per cent of women with disabilities had been forcibly sterilized.

Keywords: Champions with Disability, Disabled People, global development, post-2015 Development Agenda

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/pushing-for-accessibility/article5099950.ece

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Status of Education- 62 Special Educators for 18,000 children with disabilities in Delhi


Shikha Sharma : New Delhi, Thu Sep 05 2013, 

It has been four months since she went to school. Every time the 11-year-old turns up at her municipal school in Nehru Park, the principal sends her back, saying the school doesn't have special educators to teach her. The 11-year-old is a challenged child.
But she isn't the only one forced to stay at home because of a lack of specialist teachers. Her's is the story of more than 18,000 differently abled children studying in the city's many government and municipal schools, who, in the absence of special education teachers, are either not allowed to enter the schools or refused admission.

A report submitted by the Education department in the Delhi Assembly identified 18,000 such kids in 2009. The number of teachers qualified to teach these students, though, stands at only 62.

Around 250 teachers hired on contract under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) were teaching in the city's many schools until May. But their contracts were not renewed once they expired. "So barring the 62 teachers engaged by the government recently, there are no teachers in both MCD and government schools now," said S C Bimal, component coordinator (special education), SSA.

In September 2009, the High Court, noting the serious paucity of special educators, directed the government and local bodies to ensure each school had at least two special educators within six months.

Following the order, the Delhi government created 927 permanent teacher posts in Directorate of Education (DoE) schools and 1,610 in MCD schools through the Delhi Subordinate State Services Board (DSSSB). But little seems to have come of it.

"For the 927 posts, 450 teachers were called for counselling and we are expecting some to join soon. With 62 guest teachers already working, the situation will improve as the second round of recruiting guest teachers and fresh recruitment of contract teachers is underway," said Amit Singla, Director, DoE.

"We have created 695 posts for special educators. As soon as the DSSSB recruits for these posts, we will fill them up," said Mukesh Yadav, PRO, South Delhi Municipal Corporation. Only nine out of 8,789 teachers shortlisted by DSSSB, though, have qualified for the job.

The quality of education, also, stands to question. "Where the Rehabilitation Council of India prescribes one teacher for every eight differently abled children, most teachers appointed on contract are given 20 schools to handle. Principals in most MCD schools refuse to admit children with disabilities. In some cases, we see a child only once a month. We may call them children with special needs but the truth is, they are the most ignored," said Ramgopal, a special educator working on contract.


Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Mutiple hurdles for disabled wanting to enter medicine



Chennai, September 02, 2013

Applications for direct recruitment in Tamil Nadu this year have no reference to three per cent quota — a mandate stipulated by the health of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995.

The health of the Persons with Disability Act, 1995, in its implementation, is in need of resuscitation. Most in distress is the non-implementation of reservation quota guaranteed by the Act in the medical services sector.

Source: The Hindu
Section 33 of the Act mandates a three per cent reservation for the disabled in all government jobs. While two categories of disabled persons that usually can take advantage of this reservation are automatically excluded from joining medical services - visual and hearing impaired persons - those with disabilities in the lower limbs are allowed to qualify as medical professionals.

Technically, they should be allotted the three percent seats while the State hires doctors for its medical services.

All this is fine, in theory. While a Government Order in 2005 identified 117 posts that were reserved for the disabled; in 2013, an additional 170 posts were identified under the Tamil Nadu Medical Service, Tamil Nadu Subordinate Medical Service, Tamil Nadu Public Health Service and Tamil Nadu Public Health Subordinate Service. These include the posts of Assistant Surgeon in the specialties of physiology, radiology, radiotherapy, Siddha, Ayurveda, Unani, speech therapist, dietician, and health officer. However, implementation is quite another issue.

Earlier this year, the Differently Abled Welfare Department Secretary wrote to the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Recruitment Board (MSRB), making these points. He was writing to point out that despite these orders, MSRB’s communication of March 2013 calling for applications for direct recruitment had no reference to the disability reservation quota.

“The MSRB specifies even the percentage of disability, and the posts reserved on its website, but does it become invisible to the Board when it comes to actual recruitment?” asks S. Namburajan, State secretary, Tamil Nadu for the Rights of all Types of Differently Able and Caregivers (TARATDAC).

TARATDAC has written to the Chief Minister to intervene in the issue and ensure that the three percent rule of reservation is implemented in the medical services recruitment in Tamil Nadu.

It has also asked for a status report on the actual percentage of disabled persons hired in medical services recruitment in the State.

But reservation is just one aspect that is being raised by differently abled medical practitioners. There is also a further aspect of discrimination that doctors are alleging. A disabled doctor who applies for the reserved posts must appear in front of a medical board which will certify that the handicap will not affect his or her performance on the job, in order to be appointed.

A senior government medical doctor who is disabled says, on condition of anonymity, “Already, only those with lower limb disabilities (up to a certain percentage) are allowed to even take up the MBBS course. To gain admission, they have to appear in front of a medical board which will certify the candidate based on disability norms specified by the Medical Council of India. Only if this certificate is given can a student even take up medicine.”

He argues that once they undergo this test, they should only be judged on their professional skills and not be subjected to further “humiliation” by appearing in front of another medical board to certify physical fitness with reference to disability, over and above what other candidates are subject to.

“The government must do away with the second appearance before the medical board for disabled persons; it is quite unnecessary. It was tough when I was forced to go through the process,” says a lady doctor serving in the districts currently.

Health officials said that the department would definitely examine the request, and try to work towards a discrimination-free recruitment process.

Source: The Hindu