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ANNEXURES
CLAUSES 44 - 46 OF THE DISABILITY ACT, 1995 The Gazette of India EXTRAORDIANRY PART II - Section 1 PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 1 NEW DELHI, Monday, JANUARY 1, 1996/PAUSA 11, 1917 Separate paging is given to this Part in order that it may be filed as a separate compilation. MINISTRY OF LAW, JUSTICE AND COMPANY AFFAIRS (Legislative Department) New Delhi, the 1st January 1996, Pausa 11, 1917 (Saka) The following Act of Parliament received the assent of the president on the 1st January, 1996, and is hereby published for general information: THE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITES (EQUAL OPPORTUNITES, PROTECTION OF RIGHTS AND FULL PARTICIPTION) ACT, 1995 No.1 of 1996 (1st January 1996) An Act to give effect to the proclamation on the Full Participation and equality of the People with Disabilities in the Asian and Pacific Region. WHEREAS the meeting to launch the Asian and Pacific decade of Disabled Persons 1993-2002 convened by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific held in Beijing on 1st to 5th December, 1992, adopted the Proclamation on the Full participation and Equality of people with Disabilities in the Asian and Pacific Region. AND WHEREAS India is a signatory to the said Proclamation; AND
WHEREAS it is considered necessary to implement the proclamation aforesaid.
CHAPTER VIII
The budget proposal is for an audit of 3 - 4 organizations in one day.
SAMPLE INVITATION FOR A PRESS CONFERENCE ………….On Organizational Letterhead…….. KIND ATTENTION: NEWS DESK Dear Madam/Sir, (State the details of your organization in a few sentences) (State the purpose of the audit, in a few sentences) You are cordially invited to a Press Conference to discuss the launch of the DISABILITY AUDIT PROJECT in …..(City, Town)……, on ………(date)…….., at the …….(venue)…….., at …(time)…. We seek the support of the media in this unique endeavour, and hence request you to kindly depute a reporter to cover the event. The disability movement, of which we are a part, would like your esteemed organization to be with us through the Campaign and help us bring the crucial issue of access to the forefront. Name of Coordinator Designation
SAMPLE BACKGROUND NOTE OF THE PRESS KIT ……..On Organization letterhead……. …….. (State name of organization)…… CONDUCTS DISABILITY AUDIT OF PUBLIC PLACES IN ……state name of city/town….. How accessible is our country for its disabled citizens? How accessible is education, training, employment, rehabilitation services, recreation, and medical treatment for that matter. The seemingly simple acts of reaching the office, boarding the bus, going to the shop to buy a shirt, going to a cinema hall to see a movie, filing a complaint at the police station, dialing the phone to know the timings of a train, taking your body weight on the machine, going to the post office or bank, entering a school or college, can all be very taxing and even humiliating for people with various types of disabilities, The nature of challenges may vary for persons with physical, visual or hearing impairments, but the problem is the same- inaccessibility, insensitivity, discrimination - leading to what else but isolation! The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act was passed by the Indian Parliament in 1995. The Act mandates non-discrimination in transportation and in the built environment. Even after more than five years since the passing of the Act, nothing much has changed for the millions of disabled citizens living in the city. Five years is a long time for any agency to implement the law! The ……state organizations name…… therefore, plans to conduct a Disability Audit of select public buildings in Delhi to see how accessible they are for persons with disabilities. We have the law to support us. Now, a process has to begin to assess the problem and take firm action towards making a disabled- friendly built environment. The objective of conducting a Disability Audit in Delhi is to identify the extent of the problem regarding access to public buildings in the capital city of India for persons with different disabilities and to create awareness on the issue. A few public buildings/places will be identified for the purpose of the Disability Audit. Initially, a notice will be issued to the concerned authorities incharge of the place and the date of the Audit will be given. A group of disabled activists representing various disabilities will go to these places to inspect them as to how disabled friendly they are (or not). The Audit Team will consist of about 10 to 12 people with visual impairment,. Orthopaedic disability, hearing and mental impairment. After the completion of each Audit, the Team will compile its observations in terms of problem areas and send its recommendations to the concerned authorities. A pragmatic deadline will be given to the authorities for compliance. The
programme for the Disability Audits is enclosed. SAMPLE INVITATION TO MEDIA TO ATTEND THE AUDIT (On Organization's letter head)
URGENT ATTENTION: CHIEF REPORTER Dear Madam / Sir, ….Ref. No….. ...Date…. As you may be aware, ……(state organization's name) ……. is conducting a series of DISABILITY AUDITS in ….state name of city/town….. The objective of these Audits is to identify the extent of problem regarding access to public buildings in India for persons with disabilities and to create awareness on the issue. The DISABILITY AUDIT is being conducted on ……(Date) …… at the …..mention name of the place…….. We earnestly request you to please cover the event and see for yourself how inaccessibility even the medical facilities are fro persons with disabilities. We request you to kindly depute a reporter/camera team to accompany the Audit Team. The Disability Audit is scheduled for …..state time….. Your Reporter / Photographer can either meet us directly at the ……state venue…… lobby/ reception at that time OR she / he can join us at the …..state name of the place from where departure will take place….. at …… time ……. from where our vehicle/s will transport the media team to the venue. The Disability Audit is expected to last for approximately 90 minutes or so. We would try our best to finish it in the specified time, after which our vehicle/s will take the concerned media persons back to the departure point of the morning. The …..state name of audited organization ….. has very kindly agreed to cooperate with us in this endeavor. With their permissions, we will be auditing the general public areas and ……give list of the specific places that will be audited………(eg. toilets, cafeteria etc). Your support in this unique endeavor would help us bring the crucial issue of access to the forefront. We look forward to hearing from you. With best regards, Yours sincerely, ……..Name of Coordinator Designation…….
SAMPLE OF FORMAT FOR THE SCHEDULE OF THE AUDIT DISABILITY AUDITS IN ….state name of city/town….. DAY 1 (Date)
DAY 2 (Date)
DAY 3 (Date)
SAMPLE LETTER TO PARTNERS TO AN INFORMATION MEETING (On Organization's letter head) ….Ref. No….. ...Date…. Dear As you are aware, ….state name of your organization…… is ……give brief description of your organization…. ……. state name of your organization……. is about taking active steps in mitigating the the disabled citizens of the country. It will work actively, with the support of its members, to promote equal opportunities for persons with disabilities. ……. state name of your organization…….is organizing a consultation meeting on Promotion of Access in Delhi on ……. state date and time of event……. at ……. state venue …….. A selected group of like-minded people have been invited for the meeting, We request you to kindly attend and participate in the same. A note on Disability Audit in ….state name of city/town….. is enclosed for your perusal. Please RSVP ……. state name of contact person……. to confirm/ regret your presence at the meeting. We look forward to meeting you. Yours sincerely, …….name of Coordinator……. …….Designation…….
SAMPLE LETTER TO THE ORGANIZATION TO BE AUDITED (On Organization's letter head) ….Ref. No….. ...Date…. Dear (State the details of your organization in a few sentences) (State the purpose of the audit, in a few sentences) ….state name of your organization…… is taking up issues concerning the disabled citizens of the country. It is working actively. With the support of its members, to promote equal opportunities for persons with disabilities. We are organizing Disability Audits in ….state name of city/town you are working in……, as accessibility has been the most neglected issue in the disability sector in India and probably on one of the most crucial. The objective of these Audits is to identify the extent of problem regarding access to public buildings in India for persons with disabilities and to create awareness on the issue. A group of disabled people would like to come to ….state of organization being contacted…… on ….state date, time of the desired visit…… for conducting the Disability Audit. The group would like to visit the following: State the actual sites/facilities that would be evaluated The group would be accompanied with a media team. We request you to kindly extend your support and cooperation for the smooth conduction of the Audit. We would like to stress again that the objectives is to create awareness and sensitivity in the general public regarding access to public buildings for persons with disabilities and we seek the permission and cooperation of your esteemed Institute in this endeavour. Please issue directions to the concerned departments in the hospital for their cooperation. We would also be grateful if the concerned Public Relations Officer of the Institute could accompany the media team and us during the Disability Audit. The task will take about two hours. We look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely, …….name of Coordinator……. …….Designation…….
Date: Organization Audited:
(On Organization's letter head) ….Ref. No….. ...Date…. Dear We have been trying to bring to the notice of all, the issues of inaccessible public buildings and places for a long time now! The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act was passed by the Indian Parliament in 1995. The Act mandates non-discrimination in transportation and in the built environment. Even after more than five years since the passage of the Act, nothing much has changed for the 70 million disabled citizens living in the country. It seems that the people of ….state name of city/town you are working in…… have been indifferent and insensitive to our repeated appeals. Five years is a long time for any agency to implement the law! (A copy of The Disability Act, 1995, is enclosed.) ….state name of your organization…… therefore, is conducting Disability Audits of select public buildings in Delhi to see how accessible they are for persons with disabilities. The objective of conducting these Disability Audits is to identify the extent of the problem regarding access to public building in the capital city of India for persons with different disabilities to create awareness on the issue. ….state name of your organization…… and its objectives……. If you look closely, you will realize that education, training, employment, rehabilitation services, recreation, and even medical treatment is beyond the reach of the disabled people living in the city. The seemingly simple acts of reaching the office, boarding the bus, going to the shop to buy a shirt, going to a cinema hall to see a movie, filing a complaint at the police station, dialing the phone to know the timings of a train, taking your body weight on the machine, going to the post office or bank, entering a school or college, can all be very taxing and even humiliating experiences for people with various types of disabilities. The nature of challenges may vary for persons with physical, visual or hearing impairments, but the problem is the same- inaccessibility, insensitivity, discrimination - leading to what else but isolation! The Disability Audit Team of ….state name of your organization…… would like you to look into this crucial issue and take the necessary action to make the ….. state name of the building/institution being evaluated by your organization ….. completely accessible for persons with different types of disabilities. The Design Manual for Barrier Free Environment and the CPWD Guidelines are also enclosed for your perusal. With kind regards Yours sincerely, …….name of Coordinator……. …….Designation…….
SAMPLE LETTER OF THANKS TO THE ORGANIZATION AUDITED (On Organization's letter head) ….Ref. No….. ...Date…. Dear The entire Disability Audit Team of ….state name of your organization…… would like to extend our deep appreciation to you and your team for your cooperation and hospitality during the conduction of the Disability Audit at your esteemed hospital yesterday. We are indeed grateful to you for your time and support. We left the ….state name of the organization audited…… reassured that the issue of making the ….state name of the organization audited…… disabled friendly would be looked into with sincerity and conviction, and that it will be a role model for other hospital buildings in the country. Thank you once again Yours sincerely, …….name of Coordinator……. …….Designation…….
DISABILITY AUDIT IN DELHI INDRAPRASTHA APOLLO HOSPITAL Carried out by the Disabled Persons International - India Name of the Place: Indraprastha Apollo Hospital Sarita Vihar Delhi-Mathura Road New Delhi 110044 Date of Disability Audit: 30th May 2001 Members of the Audit Team: Dr. Onkar Sharma, Hony. President, DPI-India (Person with speech and hearing impairment) Mrs. Asha Mehra Treasurer, DPI-India (Parent of a person with slow learning skills) Mr. Javed Abidi, Secretary General, DPI- India (Wheelchair user) Mr. Aqeel Qurshi(Wheelchair user) Mr. Baldev Gulati (person with visual impairment) Mr. Jarnail Singh (wheelchair user) Observations: Indraprastha Apollo Hospital is one of the largest and the most recently built hospital in New Delhi, the capital city of India. Before the Disability Audit, a letter was written to the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, seeking their permission to conduct the Audit, so that the authorities were aware of it and minimum inconvenience was caused to the patients in the Hospital. The Hospital gave an immediate positive response. All the members of the Disability Audit Team reached the Hospital on 30th May 2001 and were welcomed by the staff of the Hospital. Members of the print as well as visual media were also present due to the media mobilization done by the DPI-India Team during the previous two days. The Audit Team visited the following areas of the hospital:
Some of the main observations of the Audit Team were:
However, all the floors of the hospital are accessible through ramps, stairs and lifts and the lifts and corridors are wide and spacious. The Team was of the opinion that most hospitals in India have similar barriers. Immediate Impact: The Disability Audit was followed by a meeting with the Managing Director of Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Mr Y Mehrotra. He was very candid in accepting their lack of awareness and assured the DPI-India Team that the hospital will be made disabled friendly to a great extent in a time bound manner. He also assured that the information will be passed on to the concerned people so that the future architectural plans of the Apollo chain of hospitals incorporates these suggestions and the provisions of The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 are implemented, both in letter and spirit. The print and the visual media covered the Disability Audit and helped in raising awareness on the issue. Some of the press clippings are enclosed. 21st June 2001 (Javed Abidi) Secretary General Acknowledgements:
This document has been adapted from a Manual prepared by the National Council
for the Promotion of Employment for Disabled Persons, New Delhi |