Another Day of Persons with Disabilities has been observed
just over a couple of weeks ago on Dec 3. I issued a press release on the day
and a big thank you to The Morung Express, Eastern Mirror and Nagaland Page for
carrying it as front page news.
Year in and year out on disability day, politicians and
officials have been delivering grand speeches on equality, equal opportunities
and so on and so forth. But that’s it – just speeches, nothing more. This year
I wanted to let the government know that we’ve had enough of speeches……..now we
want answers and action.
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| Nagaland Civil Secretariat complex – a section of the steps leading up to the main building. Where is the accessibility and equality that the politicians and officials keep talking about? |
We want answers from our Government!
It’s another International Day of Persons with Disabilities
yet again. I’m sure this year’s observance will be as usual – grand programmes
organised by the government and various organisations. Politicians and
bureaucrats will be invited, speeches will be made, platitudes will be
delivered with passion, children with disabilities will be brought out to
perform like circus shows and perhaps wheelchairs or some other aid will be distributed.
And then it’ll be over - the good deed has been done, the
poor, unfortunate citizens of the society have been remembered and everyone can
go back to living their lives. As the day fades away, they will also fade away
from our society’s consciousness……….to wait for another December 3. And nothing
will change – people living with disabilities in our State will continue to
live out their days as second class citizens deprived of their rights.
This year is particularly significant as it marks 20 years
of the Disability Act 1995 - India's first ever legislation that laid the
foundation for equal rights of persons with disabilities. It was on December
22, 1995 that both Houses of Parliament passed the Persons with Disabilities
(Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Bill of
1995.
The Act is certainly not perfect and the process is on to
bring about a stronger disability rights legislation based on the UN Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). However, whatever its
defects, the 1995 law paved the way towards an accessible and inclusive India .
It has helped millions of people with disabilities across the country to come
out of the shadows.
Nagaland, as a state of the country, is obviously bound by
the legislation. But has the Act made any difference for people with
disabilities in Nagaland? There are numerous areas to pick through, but there’s
not enough space for that. So let’s just take one single aspect of the Act.
Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection
of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 under sections 44, 45 and 46
categorically provides for non-discrimination in transport, non-discrimination
on the road and non-discrimination in built environment respectively. United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which India
is a signatory, under Article 9 casts obligations on the Governments for
ensuring to PwDs accessibility to (a) Information, (b) Transportation, (c)
Physical Environment, (d) Communication Technology and (e) Accessibility to
Services as well as emergency services.
For the uninitiated in the government – politicians and
officials alike – the above is about ACCESSIBILITY. As I mentioned, the Act
came into existence in 1995 and the state has been legally obligated to
implement it for the past 20 years. Every year since 1995, during Disability
Day, politicians and bureaucrats have been making speeches on equality and equal
opportunities for every citizen – meaning disabled people as well. Leaving
aside everything else - schools, colleges, roads, etc - a look at the
government buildings alone shows the hollowness of such speeches.
An RTI application to the Home Department seeking
information on accessibility facilities/provisions for Disabled Persons in the
Nagaland State Civil Secretariat complex, the administrative nerve centre of
the state, got this terse reply – the information sought should be treated as
‘Nil”.
A similar application to another major department, Health
& Family Welfare, got the same reply – Nil. However, it added that
‘proposal for setting up such facilities will be made in the near future’. It
further said if I am not ‘satisfied’ I may appeal to FAA, who apparently is the
Principal Director of the department.
I am certainly not satisfied, but I am not appealing but
questioning the state government on the gross violation of the rights of disabled
persons in the state. It has been 20-years since the State has been required to
implement the laws of accessibility in all its buildings and it’s still
thinking about putting up a proposal. By the way, it may be pointed out that
the Health & Family Welfare does not even have the excuse of an old and
outdated building to fall back on as its Directorate is now housed in a swanky
new building built with crores of money just a few years ago. Is the government
not aware of the laws of the land?
Enough speeches have been made by ministers, parliamentary
secretaries and top bureaucrats on equality and inclusion of disabled people,
but are they aware that their office chambers and the offices of all major
administrative functions are completely inaccessible to persons with
disabilities? I have been to the Secretariat twice this year and both times I
needed at least three assistants to help me as I struggled up the endless steps
to reach the main building. Once inside, I had to battle another fancy stairway
to reach the Chief Secretary’s conference room for a meeting.
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| Nagaland Civil Secretariat – the fancy staircase, the only way to get up to the first floor |
These are just two cases. But if you take a round of govt
offices and buildings you will find that not even a single one has equal access
and conveniences for all citizens, even the brand new buildings.
Accessibility is at the heart of justice, equality and
inclusion of people with disabilities. Accessibility, of course, means a lot
more than just physical accessibility, but today we’re focusing only on the
physical and built environment, which is hostile and inaccessible across the
state. The government has consistently failed its disabled citizens so far.
We don’t need speeches anymore. We don’t want to hear
meaningless, empty platitudes anymore. On this day, December 3rd of
2015, we want to ask the state government when it plans to do justice by its
disabled citizens. And may I remind the government that this is not a matter of
discretion or special privileges. This is a human rights issue and a
development issue.
We want answers from our government.
Diethono Nakhro
Disability Rights Advocate