Disabled people getting raw deal in NE: rights activist

By Staff
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Guwahati, Jan 29 (UNI) The North East states have appointed officers and constituted committees as per the People with Disabilities Act, 1995, almost immediately after its adoption, but the benefits are yet to percolate down to the disabled people.

While most committees are defunct and the ex-officio commissioner for people with disabilities rarely has time to see to their affairs as he serves full time as the secretary in the respective state Social Welfare department, the insensitivity of the people also make life more difficult for the disabled people.

This was the general view presented in a daylong NE regional level workshop on 'Disability and Law: Issues and Challenges', organised here yesterday by the Disability Law Unit - NE, a project of Shishu Sarothi and supported by 'Light of the World'.

Action Aid regional secretary P K Pincha, however, expressed optimism that the scenario would change for the better when India adopts the recent UN convention on the disability Act.

Advocate Doma Bhuttani of Sikkim informed that there had been no proper survey to find the number of people with disabilities in the state.

'' An estimate by the Social Justice Empowerment and Welfare department puts the figure at about 8,000, '' she said, adding in spite of necessary appointments under the Act, no worthwhile steps had been taken for the welfare of the disabled people in Sikkim.

The situation was no better in Manipur, representative from the state Lasram T Riki said, pointing out that the executive committee, formed under the Act in 2004, had met a single time and the state coordination committee had never sat for discussion though formed in 1997.

He said the scholarship for students with disabilities ranged from Rs 40 to Rs 120, a very negligible amount, with no special employment facilities for the people with disabilities.

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