'Disability law drafting process non-consultative'

Participating in a two-day consultative meeting organised here by Disability Rights Group (DRG) and National Centre for Promotion of Employment of Disabled Persons (NCPEDP), about 30 disability activists from the State also urged the panel not to show "tokenism" and waste time by needlessly prolonging the drafting process.

"Initially, when the committee was created, MSJE gave four months to the panel to come out with the draft law (on August 31) which can be taken to Parliament as early as possible," said Javed Abidi, Chairperson of NCPEDP and convenor of the DRG, told the meeting.

"But the chairperson of the panel (Dr Sudha Kaul from Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy, Kolkata) told the Minister (Mukul Wasnik) that it would require two more months (till October 31) to draft the law. Subsequently, other members expressed apprehensions on completing the process by that time and requested two additional months (till December).

"This way, they were only extending the time given to them, while it took nearly 40 days from the official notification to form the committee (on April 30) to conduct its first meeting (on June 10). Till the beginning of August they have had just three sittings and have put out drafts on various aspects of the law which is nothing more than a hotchpotch of discussions," he said.

Veil of secrecy

Abidi also alleged that the panel has been less transparent and has been conducting its affairs in a veil of secrecy, despite promises that it would be open to discussion and would be transparent.

He said the drafts put out by the 10 sub-committees that had taken up different aspects of the law, such as education, employment health etc, only repeated the old "mindset" and is in contravention of the UNCRPD (United Nations Convention for Rights of Persons with Disability) whose spirits it has to reflect.

Acknowledging that the concerns of the activists are justifiable, J P Gadkari, President of Parivaar and member of the panel, assured the meeting that he would convey them to the Chairperson.