Thursday, May 22, 2014

DoPT issued the Memorandum on Facilities for Govt. Employees for efficient performance of duties

Dear Colleagues,

Please refer to earlier post dated 18 Feb 2014 titled "Guidelines for Comments - Facilities for Govt. Employees with Disabilities for efficient performance of Duties" wherein I had placed before you the draft from the sector and what it became when it went to the DoPT. 

The DoPT has finally notified the draft with some changes vide its OM No.No.36035/3/2013-Estt.(Res) dated 31st March 2014 which are as below:

Accessibility and Barrier free environment at workplace. Following has been added which has improved the earlier draft : 
Lifts/elevators should be made accessible by providing Braille signage and audio outputs. Wherever required, suitable colour contrast may also be made available in buildings, utilities, staircases, etc. for the benefit of low vision employees. 
Special casual leave
In the earlier draft a special casual leave of 15 days mainly for inpatient treatment in CGHS recommended hospitals was given over and above all other leaves/ special casual leaves. However, in the final version, it takes away the leave sought to be granted. It now find mentions only of the existing four days leave in a calendar year for attending medical needs and 10 days leave for attending disability related conferences etc.  thereby defeating the objective of 15 days special leave. This means the section has literally been rendered useless as it doesn't give anything new and only reiterates what was existing earlier.
Guidelines have some positive things too

The guidelines though not close to what we had demanded, are a good beginning since it now gives the employees with disabilities the following facilities as a matter of right among others:

(a) Post recruitment and Pre-promotion Training. 
(b) Provision of aids/ assistive devices
(c) Accessibility & barrier free environment at workplace.
(d) Preference in Govt. Accommodation 
(e) Grievance redressal mechanisms &
(f) Preference in transfer/posting

Download the policy in PDF by clicking the weblink below:

OM No.No.36035/3/2013-Estt.(Res) dated 31st March 2014 titled "Guidelines for providing certain facilities in respect of persons with disabilities who are already employed in Government for efficient performance of their duties



Revised Code of Bank's Commitment to Customers: 2014 integrates needs of Seniors & Disabled

Dear Colleagues,

After the recent guidelines of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) & Indian Bank's Association (IBA) detailing on accessibility of banks and its services for the disabled and elderly, needs of certain disabilities under the National Trust etc, the Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI) which lays down the voluntary codes adopted by banks has in its 2014 revised version of the code has prominently dedicated a section on Senior Citizens and Differently abled.

This is a voluntary Code of Customer Rights, which sets minimum standards of banking practices member banks have to follow while they deal with individual customers. It provides protection to customers and explains how banks are expected to deal with customers in their day-to-day operations.

The extract of Section 11 from the recently revised Code is reproduced for your information below:

Extract from Code of Bank’s Commitment to Customers – January 2014

11. SENIOR CITIZENS AND DIFFERENTLY ABLED PERSONS
a. We will make our best efforts to make it easy and convenient for our special customers like senior citizens, differently abled and illiterate persons to bank with us. This will include making convenient policies, products and services for such applicants and customers.
b. We will endeavour to develop systems and procedures to improve access to banking services by you.
c. We will endeavour to make physical access to our branches and ATMs convenient for you.
d. We will sensitise our staff interacting with you to assist you in carrying out your banking transactions.
e. In addition to all the other commitments made in this Code –
i. We will accord due priority to you. We will endeavour to provide you personalized services for banking transactions and redressal of grievances.

ii. We will endeavour to provide seating arrangements in the banking hall.
iii. We will endeavour to provide you our services through a Single Window mechanism.
iv. We will permit withdrawal of your funds, up to limits set by you, by persons authorized by you on production of the authorization letter and passbook.
v. We will endeavour to provide ‘Doorstep’ banking (pick up of cash /instruments for credit to the account or delivery of cash / demand drafts against issue of cheque / requisition in writing) in special circumstances like ill health, inability to come to the branch, etc.
vi. We will issue a pension slip to you (pensioners) containing details of the pension credited to your account.
vii. We will endeavour to arrange to disburse the pension at the doorstep, in special circumstances.
viii. We will accept the Life Certificate that is required to be submitted by you (pensioners) at any branch of our bank.
ix. We will guide relatives / parents of disabled persons on how to appoint a legal guardian, under the National Trust Act, 1999, for disabled persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities who can then open and operate accounts for such persons.
x. We will ensure that all the banking facilities such as cheque book facility, ATM facility, Net banking facility, locker facility, retail loans, credit cards etc., are invariably offered to the visually challenged without any discrimination.
xi. We will render all possible assistance to the visually challenged for availing various banking facilities.
xii. We will endeavour to arrange regular meetings so that you may voice your concerns and benefit from collective experience.
To read the entire code, please click the link: Code of Bank’s Commitment to Customers – January 2014


RBI takes one step ahead towards incorporating Universal Design tenets in Banking System

Dear Colleagues,
Taking a step ahead towards incorporating universal accessibility in Banking systems, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mandated today that all new ATMs to be installed by commercial banks from July 2014 onwards would provide audible instructions and Braille keypads to customers,  besides being made accessible for wheelchair users.
The RBI’s directive came on its prior advice to banks through a notification dated 13 April 2009 to make bank branches and ATMs accessible to people with disabilities and make at least one-third of the new ATMs installed as talking ATMs with Braille keypads.
RBI has now mandated that all Banks  will have to take necessary steps to provide all existing ATMs / future ATMs with ramps so that wheelchair users / persons with disabilities can easily access them. Care is also to be taken to make arrangements in such a way that the height of the ATMs do not create an impediment in their use by wheelchair users. 
Wherever,  it is impracticable to provide such ramp facilities, whether permanently fixed to earth or otherwise, this requirement may be dispensed with, for reasons recorded and displayed in branches or ATMs concerned.
In addition to the above, magnifying glasses should also be provided in all bank branches for the use of persons with low vision, wherever they require for carrying out banking transactions with ease.
The bank branches should display at a prominent place notice about the availability of magnifying glasses and other facilities available for persons with disabilities.
“It is, therefore, reiterated that banks should make all new ATMs installed from July 1, 2014, as talking ATMs with Braille keypads,” RBI said in a notification.
RBI also wants the Banks to lay down a road map for converting all existing ATMs as talking ATMs with Braille keypads and the same  be reviewed from time to time.

Related news:

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Rights of Prisoners with Disabilities


Kalpana Kannabiran

Where prison facilities are not equipped to deal with the specific needs of persons with disabilities, arrest and detention in custody should be a measure of last resort

We have a slew of cases around prisoners’ rights that emphasise their right to dignity and their right against cruel and degrading punishment, which have been understood to violate the right to life, guaranteed by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. In complying with the standards set out in constitutional jurisprudence on this matter, the offence for which the person has been apprehended or convicted is immaterial. The standard is clear. No person shall be subjected to degrading, inhuman or cruel punishment that is violative of human dignity; the duty of care to be exercised in this matter during pre-trial custody is of a much higher order. These are standards applicable to all custodial situations and to all persons, irrespective of caste, sex, race, religion, or place of birth.

Treatment in custody

The Veena Sethi case in the early 1980s brought to light the treatment of prisoners with mental illnesses and their prolonged incarceration for periods ranging from 16 to 30 years in custody. This is far in excess of sentences given to them in most of these cases, without bringing them any substantive relief beyond release from illegal custody and transport and food expenses till they reached home. That was long before there was a consciousness or political articulation of the rights of persons with disabilities, which, importantly today, includes civil and political rights for prisoners with disabilities.

We have seen some reports on the arrest of Dr. G.N. Saibaba and the conditions under which he is being held in custody. The fact that needs close and urgent examination here is not whether he has Maoist “links” or whether he is a “sympathiser” or even whether a university professor can be harassed in this manner (although we must separate his troubles in the university from his treatment by the officers of the criminal justice system.) What needs our immediate attention is even more fundamental: as a person with disabilities who requires constant assistance and support, what are the standard minimum rules that must temper the decision to take him into custody, in order that the treatment meted out to him is not construed as cruel, degrading and inhuman?

It would be useful for the authorities who have taken Dr. Saibaba into custody to be informed of India’s commitment to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Article 4(d) enjoins States Parties “to refrain from engaging in any act or practice that is inconsistent with the present Convention and to ensure that public authorities and institutions act in conformity with the present Convention.” What are the specific protections for persons with disabilities in relation to state custody? Article 15(1) of the UNCRPD is immediately relevant: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Article 15(2) of the Convention places an obligation on the state to protect persons with disabilities from cruel degrading or inhuman treatment and punishment. It says, “States Parties shall take all effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others, from being subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

The norm of substantive equality, well established through constitutional jurisprudence in India, speaks of the principle of equality that necessarily includes special treatment for persons who are vulnerable. The denial of special provisions, appropriate assistance and specialised health care access to a person with disabilities in custody, who uses a wheelchair and has special health care needs arising from chronic illness, comes firmly within the meaning of degrading, inhuman and cruel treatment in derogation of the state’s obligation under the UNCRPD.

Particularly where a prisoner with disability requires support and assistance for daily living, placing such a prisoner in solitary confinement and denying the right to accessible facilities for personal care and hygiene is violative of the right to dignity and bodily integrity — both guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, but also under Article 17 of the UNCRPD. The latter simply and pertinently states that “every person with disabilities has a right to respect for his or her physical and mental integrity on an equal basis with others.”

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities legislation that ought to set out these standards in clear and unequivocal terms has been ever in the making in India. The absence of specific legislation, however, need not deter us from the path of justice. Article 14 of the Constitution that sets out the substantive right to equality before law, and Article 21 that sets out the framework for the right to life (with dignity) — as it specifically applies to prisoners — should at this time be read with the UNCRPD which India has ratified. This is till the time that we put in place policies and national legislation that mandatorily provide for special services and basic needs that prisoners with disabilities might require, and prioritise the conditional and compassionate release of prisoners with high support needs.

Vulnerability of women

Recognising the vulnerability of women in custodial situations, the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) provides very different standards for their involvement in criminal investigation. There are also special standards for the treatment of women prisoners and pregnant women in custody. The demand for treatment that is sensitive to the rights of persons with disabilities to dignity and physical integrity and to their specific needs is therefore not unprecedented. Where prison and custodial facilities are not equipped at all to deal with the specific needs of persons with disabilities, arrest and detention in custody should be a measure of last resort, clearly not the case where Dr. Saibaba is concerned. The investigating authorities must release him from custody forthwith and carry out any investigations they may require, without infringing on his right to human dignity and fundamental freedoms, and in full compliance with the CPC, the Constitution and the UNCRPD.

(Kalpana Kannabiran is Professor and director, Council for Social Development, Hyderabad.)

Source: The Hindu










Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Progressive Temple Trust wants women and backward caste to work as priests

This is the face of progressive India where every one irrespective of his caste or sex can be a priest in the temples of the God - breaking age old monopoly of only Brahmins  (the upper caste Hindus).  After the Supreme Court rejected the claims of the two brahmin families after a four decade protracted battle, the temple trust has now called for applications for filing eight posts of priest from amongst  women & those from backward classes as part of inclusive mission!

Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya - the founder of Gayatri Pariwar in 1950s had gone ahead giving gayatri deeksha to women and those from lower castes also saying that in the eyes of God every one is equal.  Today Akhil Vishwa Gayatri Pariwaar has become a movement for social inclusion.

Here goes the news:

IANS | May 11, 2014, 07.05 AM IST

SOLAPUR (Maharashtra): Here's another traditional male bastion set to crumble. With a Supreme Court prod, the renowned 900-year old Vitthoba Temple in the pilgrim town of Pandharpur will script religious history when it appoints its first women priests as also priests from the backward classes as part of an inclusive mission. 

"This is the first initiative in the country by any temple trust to break the centuries-old monopoly of the brahmans over the temple puja and other rituals. We are keen that puja and rituals should be thrown open to all castes, especially non-brahmans," Anna Dange, chairman of the Vitthal Rukmini Temple Trust (VRTT) explained to IANS. 

The VRTT advertised this week, inviting applications for eight posts of priests from all practising Hindus and women well-versed in the two-or-three special pujas for Lord Vitthoba and his consort Rukmini, besides other temple rites and rituals. 

"We shall interview the candidates May 18 and finalize the appointments which shall be purely temporary and contractual with the remuneration depending on the merits of those selected," said Dange. 

The VRTT move was prompted by a Supreme Court judgment in January in a four-decade-old litigation dismissing the claims of exclusive ancestral rights over the earnings and rituals at the temple by the Badve and Utpat families here. 

The two families had challenged the decision of the state government to take over the temple in 1968 after the recommendations of the B.D. Nadkarni Committee. 

A former cabinet minister in Maharashtra, Dange said that the apex court's verdict has already brought about a seachange in the past few months in the earnings of the temple, situated around 350 km southeast of Mumbai. 

"Earlier, the two families used to auction the daily pujas for the two presiding deities starting at Rs 7,000 ($117) for Rukmini and Rs 20,000 for Lord Vitthoba. They kept the daily earnings which were around Rs 150,000 and grew manifold on special occasions and festivals. Now, all the money is coming to the VRTT. This year, the temple income will be more than five crore rupees," Dange said. 

The VRTT has been flooded with applications and many are ready to work free as they consider it a "divine service", Dange said with a smile. The excited applicants are said to hail from OBCs, Marathas, the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and other castes. 

The temple hosts the idol of Lord Vitthoba, a local version of Lord Krishna, and his consort Rukmini, and is revered by the 150,000-strong population of the town. 

It has a unique scripture on its walls dating to 1195 on which the devotees would rub their backs to free themselves from the cycles of rebirth. 

Attracting around 30,000 devotees from Maharashtra and other parts of India every day, the temple atmosphere is festive during four annual pilgrimages when around nearly two million devotees daily throng there. 

On Navratri and Dassehra, the deities look spectacular daily with new clothes and jewellery, with lights and decorations that reflect in the serene waters of the Bhima river on whose banks the temple stands, Dange told IANS. 

Incidentally, the world-famous 200,000 dabbawalas of Mumbai are staunch devotees of Lord Vitthoba and Rukmini and they take a brief vacation for their annual "jatras" to Pandharpur. 

The dabbawalas belong to the clan of "varkaris" who walk hundreds of kilometres from different parts of the state in processions taking two-three weeks during the Hindu months of Chaitra (March-April), Ashadhi (June-July), Karthik (October-November) and Maghi (January-February). 

A trip to Pandharpur means a visit to some other famous temples in and around the town, including the Goddess Tulja Bhavani Temple, the family diety of the great Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji; Shri Swami Samarth Temple; Lord Shri Kshetra Temple and Lord Dattatreya Temple.