From the States

Social security and Worker’s rights

Social security will soon cease to be the privilege of a few. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Independence Day speech assured that new policies to protect workers’ rights in the unorganized sector will soon be formulated. During his speech, the Prime Minister said, “Millions of Indians work in small establishments, run their own little shops or offer their services on a daily basis. They have neither a social safety net nor a sense of economic security.

The PM announced a plan to provide old age pension to all citizens above the age of 65 and living below the poverty line. Government will also provide life and disability cover to one earning member in each family so that they can face the consequences of injury or death. A health insurance model will also be launched soon to save the poor from the steep cost of medical care in the country.

The announcement was in response to a dharna by workers’ organisations in New Delhi on August 13 demanding introduction of a Bill for social security for the unorganized sector. As many as 5,000 workers of 21 workers’ organisations from Pune, Bihar, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jaipur, Meerut, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Gurgaon and Ghaziabad led by the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and the Angamehnati Kashtkari Sangharsh Samiti had demanded immediate introduction of the Bill on social security for the unorganized sector in the monsoon session of the Parliament.

The workers demanded that the Government set up a National Social Security Fund to provide registration and identity cards for all unorganized workers, life and disability insurance, health insurance, maternity benefits, old age pension and workers’ contribution. The organisations want to include all categories and types of unorganized workers, not only BPL ones, in the programme. The workers suggested a network of workers’ facilitation centres to ensure a participatory mechanism and clear implementation machinery. A report released by the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector this month, “Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in Unorganised Sector,” reveals that of 457 million workers in India, 395 million are employed in unorganized sector - in areas such as agriculture, construction, weaving and fishing - and “only 0.4 pc of 395 million unorganized sector workers have access to any form of social security.”

A delegation headed by Ela Bhatt, founder of SEWA, and Baba Adhav, founder of Hamal Panchayat and president of the Maharashtra Hamal Mahapadi Mahamandal, met Sonia Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee and Oscar Fernandez, minister of labour and employment.

What’s the Bill about…

  • It redefines worker so as to include all types of workers, not only those who have a fixed employer. In so doing, it brings in all the self employed workers as well as casual, contract, homebased etc
  • It identifies each worker and gives him/her a unique social security number and social security card
  • It offers a variety of social security benefits to the unorganized worker. These would include, health insurance, maternity benefit and pensions. As these schemes become successful, the trust and participation of workers’ builds up, and more funds come in, a variety of different benefits can be included such as children’s education, housing, skill-building etc
  • It binds the Central Government to providing a minimum amount of benefits and funds
  • It creates a structure, an architecture, that works with but does not rely solely on the Government system. It creates a participatory structure that builds on already existing civil society, government and semi-government organizations which have a good record
  • It encourages the unorganized workers to organize around the social security structures and benefits, creating a voice and space for them

Source: Policies to protect workers’ rights soon, The Indian Express, Ahmedabad, 16th August 2007.

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HC directs education department to provide free education

The UT Education Department will be providing free education to all disabled students up to Class XII in all government schools in the city of Chandigarh. The proposal will be finalized by the end of August.

The education department initiated this proposal following the episode in which Abhimanyu Partap, a disabled student, was denied admission to Government

Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16, and his parents then moved the High Court.

A senior official from the education department said the High Court had suggested the department regarding making education free for all disabled students. The official also confirmed that the proposal is in its final stages and is lying pending with senior UT Administration officials.

DPI (S), S K Setia said, "We have decided to do away with tuition fee for Abhimanyu. And senior officials in the department are also considering making education free for all disabled students seeking admission in government schools."

Besides doing away with fees for disabled students, the current scholarships available to them will also be revised, sources said. At present disabled students from Class I to V get Rs 25 per month as scholarship and students from Class VI to VIII get Rs 35 per month. This amount, as per sources, would be revised.

Sources said all the scholarships, whether for the disabled or students belonging to SC/ST category, would be increased to Rs 250 per month.

Source: Jyotsna Jalali, UT plans free education for disabled students. The Indian Express, Chandigarh, 10th August 2007.

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DGCA lays down requirements

The Office of the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued new civil aviation requirements for disabled passengers that are scheduled to come into effect from Wednesday – on the 60th Anniversary of our Independence.

According to the new requirements, “no airline shall refuse to carry physically challenged or incapacitated persons or persons with disabilities,” as long as they “do not pose a threat” to the safety of other passengers or the evacuation procedure for the aircraft. Airlines will also not be permitted to limit the “number or types” of disabled passengers on a particular flight, except “where required for operational reasons.” The procedure for limiting disabled passengers will also be documented. Airlines will now also have to run “sensitisation and developing awareness” training programmes for staff.

Calls from rights groups: There have been increasing calls from rights groups for clearer guidelines on the transportation requirements of disabled passengers following the prevention of Rajeev Rajan — a cerebral palsy patient and activist with Vidyasagar, a non-governmental organisation for the disabled — from boarding an Air Sahara flight in Chennai on June 18 for failing to produce a medical certificate. In an effort to clarify aviation requirements for disabled passengers, the DGCA issued a draft on July 25 on its website (http://dgca.nic.in), specifying the new guidelines for airlines and “inviting comments” on the new recommendations. The DGCA said the new recommendations were to come into effect on August 15.

Dhanasekharan, a representative of Vidyasagar, said that the August 15 deadline did not give disabled rights groups enough time to respond to the recommendations. “We were shocked to discover that the deadline was today [August 15],” Mr. Dhanasekharan said. “By just putting it on the DGCA website, how can they expect all of us to be aware of it?”

“Extend deadline”: Vidyasagar has written to the DGCA asking it to extend the deadline for implementing the new requirements. “Before they put the requirements into effect, the DGCA has to have a consultation with disabled groups as after all we are the stake-holders,” Mr. Dhanasekharan said. “They clearly seem to not want any suggestions from us.”

“Ambiguous”: Mr. Dhanasekharan alleged the new requirements were “ambiguous.” “They have used the word ‘incapacitated’ to define the disabled,” he said. “What do they mean by incapacitated? And what is ‘severe’ disability? All this needs to be clarified with the stake-holders before they are implemented.”

Source: Ananth Krishnan, The disabled cannot be denied air passage, The Hindu, 16th August 2007.

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The book donation campaign

BIG 92.7 FM, India's leading radio station has started an 'Old Books Donation' program at Press Club, Hyderabad for the needy students who lack educational resources while studying.

The two-month summer long program began with physically challenged students of 'Shekinah Foundation' for Disabled. National Badminton Champion, Jwala Gutta graced the occasion cheering the true champion spirits of the FM station.

All students from class 6th to 10th of 'Shekinah Foundation' were given text books donated by BIG 92.7 FM listeners. To facilitate their education, stationery items like geometry boxes, pens, pencils, erasers, ruled papers and school bags were also given by the listeners. A special magic show was organized by BIG FM to light up the evening; Magician Ali brought smiles and laughter-filled magic to school children.

Station Head of BIG 92.7 FM, Ashwin Padmanabhan said, Education is the only way to progress and books are integral to getting a good education. At BIG 92.7 we believe that as a mass media we have the responsibility to act as a catalyst for good causes in our society. The BIG Book donation drive is an example of BIG 92.7 FMs commitment to ensure that the underprivileged also have access to the best education. This drive will continue for two months and I am delighted with the huge response we have received from the listeners of BIG 92.7 FM, I would like to thank all and request others to take this opportunity and contribute to a better future".

Ch. Ishakar, President, Shekinah Foundation said, "We whole heartedly appreciate the sincere efforts of BIG 92.7FM for providing most useful material such as books, and other stationery items which will meet the educational needs of poor physically challenged children of Shekinah Foundation. This action initiated by BIG 92.7FM shows its true concern towards the needs of the community. We hope many more corporates and business groups will certainly be inspired by learning about this good deed started by BIG 92.7FM. Remember challenged children need our empathy not mere sympathy."

Source: BIG FM starts 'Old Books Donation' program in Hyderabad, http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2007/newsfullstory.php?id=1186474943, 7th August 2007.

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Consultations on PWD Act amendment on…

The ambit of the Persons with Disabilities Act should be widened to include people with autism, dyslexia and other handicaps and more representation should be given to the disabled in the private sector, felt government officials, NGOs and experts at a northern India consultative meeting, organised by the ministry of social justice and empowerment, on amending the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, it was suggested that changes should be brought to the act to make it more effective.

At the meeting, the third such since 2006, it was suggested that the private sector be incorporated in the Persons with Disability (PWD) Act.

Anuradha Mohit, of National Institute for Visually Challenged, Dehradun, said: "In the non-discrimination chapter of the Act, the private sector is not mentioned. This despite the fact that everything is slowly getting privatised, be it in case of education, culture or public information system. Hence the act should be amended so that more disabled people are given an opportunity to work and be a part of the private sector companies," she said.

Health was another field mentioned at the meeting. Most participants said that people with disabilities still have to pay high premiums for health insurance schemes, which needs to be challenged.

Veena Chhotray, secretary of the ministry of social justice and empowerment, said the ambit of the disabilities act should be expanded. "For instance, autism is not defined in the act. Dyslexia, a learning disability, is not mentioned either. Secondly, we are looking at reservation for people suffering from all kinds of disabilities in various sectors, including the private sector. Now there is reservation only for the hearing and seeing impaired and those with locomotive disorders," she said.

In the existing act, it is mentioned that the state has to see that there is a five percent reservation for disabled people in the workplace in the private sector. The implementation mechanism of the act would be looked into with all seriousness and the state government would be bound by it as well, she stressed. According to Chhotray, the ministry could have concluded the talks earlier but there was a demand by many stakeholders that the amendments should be taken up only after the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was finalised.

"Hence after India became one of the first countries to sign the UN Convention on March 30 this year, on the first day it was opened for signature and ratification, we decided to take the consultation forward," she said. "There will be another national level meet before we come to a conclusion. There are a number of things we have to keep in mind before that, such as aligning by the UN Convention and that the amendments don't conflict with any other domestic legislation."

The earlier two meets were held in Patna, in consultation with stakeholders of the eastern and northeastern states, and in Chennai with stakeholders of the southern states.

Source: Ambit of Disabilities Act may be widened, Indo-Asian News Service, 14th August 2007.

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IIM-B to be transparent re disability quota

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B) to disclose evaluation criteria adopted by it regarding shortlisting candidates who come under the category of People with Disability (PWD). Information Commissioner O P Kejriwal in his order said in the interest of transparency the institution should finalise procedures, which would dispel any doubt regarding the criteria for selection, especially with regard to PWD candidates with special attention being given to clarifying weightages against various selection criteria.

Appellant Ms Vaishnavi Kasturi of Bangalore (a visually handicapped person) filed an application with IIM-B on 19 January 2007 regarding her written CAT in 2006 for admission during the current academic year. She wanted to know details about her percentile after group discussion (GD) and interview. She also wanted to know the names and percentile marks obtained by other candidates who had been shortlisted in the PWD category, names and percentile marks obtained by selected blind candidates for GD and interview and her place in the merit list.

Her demand was that the IIM-Bangalore should disclose in advance the weightage given to CAT examinees for each of the parameters. In response, IIM-B said in respect to the particular candidate, they were prepared to disclose her position vis-à-vis the last candidate together with details of the weightage of marks. However, it wanted the Commission to hear a senior member of the Admission Committee before a decision was arrived at. The Commission accepted its submission and heard the matter again on 4 July 2007.

The IIM-B in its submission stated that the institution was in the process of finalising the entire admission process together with the criteria for selection of candidates with disability and this would be finalised within a fortnight. However, these would be applicable for the IIM-B batch of 2007 only.

The Commission held that the relevance of laying down procedures, which would effect candidates, would be useful only if they were made available to the students before the relevant examinations and recommended that the institution should finalise procedures which would dispel any doubt regarding the criteria for selection, especially with regard to PWD candidates with special attention being given to clarifying the weightages against various criteria for selection.

The panel observed that several of the issues on which the information had been asked for by the appellant in her original application should have been disclosed by the IIM. It has been directed to provide these information by 30 July.

Source: Reveal disabled person selection criteria, Info panel tells IIM-B, The India Express, 18th July 2007.

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Seminar on Media and Disability Communication

Speakers at a national workshop on “Media and Disability Communication” said that there is need to remove the barriers confronted by persons with disabilities. Referring to different “barriers” faced by them, a speaker urged the media to play a positive role in overcoming these barriers.

“Information, environmental and access barriers faced by the disabled persons need to be removed,” said K. Kannan, the Media Advisor to Plan International Asian Region, a non-governmental organization. “Media can play an important role in highlighting the need to overcome these barriers,” he said in his presentation entitled “Role of Print Media in Disability Communication.”

Kannan said that these “special persons” have a right to education and information. “Disability should not be treated like a disease,” Kanan said at the seminar, organised jointly by the Kashmir University’s Media Education Research Centre and Ali Yawar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped, Mumbai. “Media can act as a mirror and reflect the need of having a sophisticated and quality infrastructure for the disabled persons,” Kanan added. In a lively discussion with the students of MERC, Kanan urged the budding journalists to “come forward and highlight the potential problems faced by the disabled persons.”

In another presentation entitled “A style guide for media communication professionals,” Martin Mathew emphasized on the importance of language while communicating with the disabled persons. “Language is essential for communication,” said the Media Officer to Ali Yavar Jung Institue. “It should empower persons with disability and eliminate discrimination,” he added. Matthew urged the media not to sensationalize stories about disabled persons. “The media professionals must adhere to standard norms of news writing with stories on disabled persons,” Matthew said. “They need to follow a style book based on professional standards in journalism,” he added.

Referring to the shortage of necessary infrastructure for disabled persons in the valley, some students from the MERC said the state government “has failed” to come up with a comprehensive policy for them.

“We don’t have many schools for disabled here even though they are badly needed,” said a student. “The schools should be provided with quality infrastructure and technical expertise,” he added.

In his remarks, the Head of the MERC, Nasir Mirza urged the participants to “take a cue from the workshop and play a positive role in highlighting the problems of persons with disabilities. Media can contribute a lot toward removing the access and information barriers faced by the disabled persons.”

Source: Mir Faheem Aslam, Seminar on Media and Disability Communication held at MERC, Greater Kashmir, 18th August 2007.

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Kerala State to help raise income profile

The Kerala State Handicapped Persons' Welfare Corporation will extend loans to physically disabled persons to start income generation activities said Irrigation Minister N.K. Premachandran while inaugurating a one–day seminar on micro–finance scheme for disabled persons.

The Corporation is the coordinating agency in the State for the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation. Disabled persons can avail up to Rs. 25,000 as loan at a minimum per annum interest rate of five per cent. The loan can be given to the same person repeatedly subject to certain conditions, including repayment of earlier loan amounts. An Indian citizen with 40 per cent or more disability could apply for the loan.

The Corporation will provide credit through NGOs in rural and urban areas. It will further finance beneficiaries either directly or through self–help groups (SHG). The office–bearers of NGOs interested in joining the micro–financing scheme should not be elected members of any political party.

Most of the physically disabled persons are constantly in need of small loans for augmenting their income. Their requirement can be met only by quickly processing loans and making it available to them at their door step. The gap that persists in meeting the credit needs of the poor should be bridged. Several nationalised banks have come up with micro–finance programmes for the poor.

Source: Easy loans for disabled people, The Hindu, Kerala, 5th August 2007.

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