From the States

Conference on ‘Sexuality of the disabled’

“To be human is to be sexual. But sexuality, for disabled people, has been an area of distress and exclusion and self–doubt for so long that it is sometimes easier not to consider it.”

Citing these stark, insightful comments by renowned sociologist Tom Shakespeare, Anita Ghai from Delhi University attempted a cultural explanation of the challenge facing the disabled. “In a culture (read Indian) where any deviation from a normally accepted archetype is seen as a marked deviation, the impaired body becomes a symbol of imperfection,” she said.

At a national symposium here on “Sexual Empowerment of Disabled Women in India,” Dr. Ghai used the “media onslaught” and instances in Indian mythology to justify her point. “The myth of the beautiful/athletic/perfect body defines the impaired body as unacceptable and undesirable. The roots of such thinking are found in Indian mythological instances, where Lakshmana cuts off the nose of Shurpanaka, who is interested in him.”

Overlooked: In Lakshmana’s act of disfiguring the ‘ugly female monster’, Dr. Ghai found proof of how the Indian psyche equates disability and de–sexing. “Consequently,” she observed, “the recognition that sexuality can and does play a significant role in forging personal and social identities is often overlooked.”

Dr. Ghai blamed even active advocates of the cause of disability for overlooking the sexuality angle and being part of a “conspiracy of silence”. “Within the normative society, it has not been rated as being a high priority issue. Scholars who have engaged with the issues of sexuality have not deliberated on its intersection with disability. The cultural devaluation and the extent to which the juxtaposition of sexuality and disability is silenced make it all the more difficult for disabled people to have a positive self–identity,” she said.

Shalini Rajneesh, Principal Secretary, Department of Women and Child Welfare, said disability issues had to be first tackled before the issue of sexuality came in. She went on to list her department’s initiatives to address disability concerns.

Survey: The department, she said, had undertaken a house–to–house survey of all disabled people in the State. This was expected to help route pensions, employment and other benefits to an identified group of people.

Also on the department’s agenda was a website to monitor the status of the surveyed people, and another job portal such as Naukri.com to help disabled people find employment according to their skill levels. This website would be launched in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry, she said.

The department had also written to all the universities in the State to include disability studies in their curriculum. Besides, provision had been made to issue disability certificates at the taluk level and through primary health centres.

The symposium was organised by the Society for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies, New Delhi, in collaboration with the Bangalore–based National Association for the Blind and Social Action and Research Foundation, New Delhi. The meet will continue through Thursday.

Source: Sexuality of the disabled being ignored’. The Hindu, Bangalore, 3 October 2007.

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Reservation in Teacher Colleges

The State Government has agreed to reserve 35 B.Ed seats in seven governmental colleges for visually impaired from the next academic year.

This was announced after representatives of College Students and Graduate Association of the Blind (CSGAB) met Chief Minister M. Karunannidhi at the Secretariat here on Sunday. The other demands, concerned by the Government, include increase in educational and readers’ scholarship, waiver of tuition and examination fee and providing challenged students in examinations. The Chief Minister will ask universities to follow the Government Order is–used to this effect.

According to a press release, the Chief Minister told the representatives that the demand for two per cent reservation in graduate teachers’ vacancies would be considered after consultations with the School Education department.

Travel concession in government buses across the State would be considered after consultation with the Transport department. The State Government agreed to consider the other demands after scrutiny in a phased manner.

After the meeting, R. Muniappan CSGAB president thanked the Chief Minister for considering their demand favourably. He said the Chief Minister had agreed to look in to other demands in a month.

“In the hope that the Government will fulfil all assurances, we have decided to call off the stir,”

Student groups and activists for the visually impaired have been urging the State government to consider their 15–point charter of demands for the past five days through demonstrations across the State.

On Saturday, Social Welfare Minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna met association representatives and agreed to arrange a meeting with the Chief Minister.

Source: Government concedes some demands of visually challenged. The Hindu, Chennai, 2 October 2007.

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Mobility aid camp

“Though the Government, from time to time, has taken various schemes for the welfare of physically–challenged people, many of them fail to enjoy the fruits of such schemes. In such a case, the example shown by the Amingaon-based Tolar-am Bafna Artificial Limb and Caliper Center has been really commendable,” said Kamrup, Executive Magistrate, Ms Anuradha Sharma while addressing the gathering during the concluding day function of a camp organized to provide free artificial calipers among 52 disabled.

The Amingaon–based centre has been working for providing artificial limbs and calipers among the physically–challenged people of the State, and it has received tremendous support from the people in this regard.

The function was attended, among others, by district social welfare officer Anil Barman. Barman said it was disappointing that the physically challenged, for various reason, could not avail the benefits offered by the Government He also said a person can continue working as a normal person using these artificial callipers.

President of the centre Subhakaran Bafna gave an outline of the activities of his centre during the concluding–day function which was compered by Rajkumar Jhanjari. He also lauded the step taken by the State Government to set up the proposed hospital at Amingaon.

Source: Physically challenged get free artificial limbs, The Sentinel, Daily, Guwahati, 28-Sept-2007.

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Training program for new doctors in Psychiatry

The mentally ill in Jammu have been bearing the brunt of official apathy since long, due to acute dearth of qualified psychiatrists. MBBS doctors and clinical psychologists with little exposure to complex branch of psychiatry have been prescribing psychotropic drugs to them at the Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital – the only one in the entire Jammu region.

However, walking up the state government, in a salvage exercise to ensure proper diagnosis and apposite treatment to such patients, has roped in faculty of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) Bangalore.

The NIMHANS faculty in collaboration with HOD Psychiatry Dr Chander Mohan Sharma and two other post–grad–uates in psychiatry from the state would be imparting three months training to medicos from all the 22 districts at the Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital.

The project stands sanctioned and would get underway from October 15 onwards to meet be demanding situation. Till that happens, the Mental Health Act 1987 in the wake of acute dearth of qualified psychiatrists has been a casualty in the strife–torn state where stress has been constantly talking its toll on mental health of people.

Authoritative sources said, “MBBS doctors with little exposure to psychiatry and a clinical psychologist have been prescribing psychotropic drugs to the visiting patients at the hospital.” “It tantamounts to criminal neglect of such patients on the part of state government, ” they said. Underlining the need of having MD faculty the official communiqué had also stated that under prevailing condition with acute shortage of PGs the 75–bedded hospital cannot be run smoothly. A victim of nonchalant attitude of successive regimes, the hospital since long has been on crutches.

“Till date the hospital has one post each of professor, assistant professor and lecturer,” said sources, adding “the post of associate professor has not been created while lecturer’s post has been lying vacant from the last over eight years.”

The 75–bedded hospital, which usually has 100 percent bed–occupancy all through the year and where 200 patients on a daily average, the OPD has only three post–graduates in psychiatry that include HOD “Dr Chander Mohan Sharma, Assistant Professor Dr JR Thappa and Medical Officer Dr NC Sharma. The last doctor was recently transferred from Gandhi Nagar hospital.

Sources said, “It is not practical for the available PGs, who have to look after in–door patients, to examine all the visiting patients to the OPD and hence MBBS doctors and clinical psychologist,” they added.

Though HOD Psychiatry Dr Chander Mohan Sharma puts his countersignature on prescription slips of these MBBS doctors and clinical psychologist yet Mental Health Act 1987 has clearly defined the term “psychiatrist”.

It says “psychiatrist” means a medical practitioner possessing a post–graduate degree or diploma in psychiatry, recognised by the Medical Council of India, constituted under Indian Medical Council of India, constituted under Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (102 of 1956), and includes, in relation to any state, any medical officer who, having regard to his knowledge and experience in psychiatry, has been declared by the government of that state to be a psychiatrist for the purposes of this Act.

It may also be mentioned here that this Act repealed the Indian Lunacy Act, 1912 (4 of 1912), and the Lunacy Act, 1977 (Jammu and Kashmir Act 25 of 1977). The provisions of the Indian Lunacy Act 1912 and the Amending Act which compendiously called Lunacy Act, 1912–1926 were not absolutely exhaustive.

Admitting that state has been facing acute shortage of qualified psychiatrists, Chander Mohan said that there are only eight MDs in psychiatry in the state and every third person in Jammu and Kashmir needs consultation for depression. The state has 40,000 drug–addicts and that on an average the hospital receives 200 patients daily at the OPD and admits 29,000 patients annually.

He further said, “The government psychiatric diseases hospital in Jammu has only two MDs in the faculty. We are meeting the situation despite constraints.”

An executive member of the National Mental Health Consultative Committee from Jammu and Kashmir, Chander Mohan recommends that in order to overcome the crisis a 3–month training program on psychiatry needs to be imparted to all doctors in the 22 districts. In fact, such a course is to start from October 15 onwards where faculty from NIMHANS Bangalore and three PGs of the state would be the Resource persons. This program is with the sanction of the Medical Council of India.

Source: MBBS docs, clinical psychologists treating mentally challenged in Jammu, Kashmir Times, Daily, Jammu, 1 Oct 2007 .

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BJP plans for the mid–term polls

With eyes on the imminent mid–term poll, the UPA government plans to come out with another electoral sop. This time it is targeting widows and handicapped under below poverty line (BPL) category.

The National Old Age Pension Scheme is being renamed after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to push the Congress–led UPA’s electoral agenda.

According to top sources in the Government, a plan is being worked out to give Rs 200 to this group as monthly emolument.

The State governments would be given the option of adding another RS 200 if they so desire. The programme has been cleared by the PMO and the Cabinet proposal is being formulated.

This programme could be merged with a previously announced old–age pension scheme for the BPL senior citizens above the age of 65 years. As preliminary estimate, while the told number of beneficiaries for the old–age pension is 1.57 crore, the number of BPL windows and handicapped is 96 lakh and 61 lakh respectively.

The renaming of the National Old Age Pension Scheme was decided in the last Cabinet meeting held on September 13 but the announcement for the same was withheld.

However, a hint to this was given by Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Rnjan Dasmunsi in the briefing when he announced that the old–age pension scheme would be launched on 19 November– the birthday of Indira Gandhi. Source said that in the Cabinet meeting on 13 September, a senior Cabinet Minister had suggested the change in the name of the old age pension scheme to take the full credit of the scheme.

The Congress was wary of many State Governments giving their own tags to the centrally funded schemes in course of its implementation.

The two programmes once launched would benefit more than 3 crore people, who are mostly from Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs and the Muslims. This would be in additional to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, whose beneficiaries are more than 2.5 crore people at present.

Source: Govt. Plans poll sop for widows, handicapped under BPL. The Pioneer, New Delhi, 26 September 2007.

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IGNOU’s educational plans

IGNOU has signed an MoU with the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) for promotion of training and educational programmes for the physically challenged. The MoU envisages development of special education and rehabilitation programmes for the disabled.

The MoU envisages that the university will make available the study material for the purpose in eight languages–Gujarati, Maratihi, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Bengali, Tamil and Telegu within six months. IGNOU and RCI will design special education programmes like B.Ed. and M.Ed. at the places where state open universities are not functioning.

Source: IGNOU scheme for the disabled. The Hindu, New Delhi, 1 October 2007.

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