May 11, 2019
Recently, TMN Deepak, Co-founder of December 3 Movement
visited the famous Kilpauk Stadium in Chennai to watch a
Indian Premier League (IPL) match. Deepak who is a wheelchair
user was denied an exclusive parking space by concerned officials in spite of
the law clearly stating that disabled parking spaces are mandatory at public
places. In spite of talking to higher officials, Deepak could not get his
parking slot. This is not an isolated incident. People with disabilities
across India struggle to fight for their rights, mainly because concerned
officials are ignorant about these rights.
The Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently
Abled (TARATDAC) is stepping forward to bring a change in the state
of Tamil Nadu. Last Tuesday, TARATDAC submitted a petition to the Chief
Secretary and other officials of disability related departments which stated
that all the official heads of government departments and local bodies must
be provided awareness sessions on disability rights as per Rights of
Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
Deepak, who is a disability rights activist in Tamil Nadu, says that this is
a much needed step in the state.
People must be able to differentiate between rights and wrongs in
jurisprudence. Most of the people, even today think that disabilities are a
matter of sympathy and charity. While booking tickets for IPL online, they
asked me to carry my disability certificates and told me that I must make
provisions to carry my wheelchair too. Seats were based on first come first
serve basis. How is that fair to a disabled person? There is no reasonable
accommodation for disabled people, mainly because officials are ignorant of
our rights. Even the police commissioner’s office in Chennai does not
have an exclusive parking space for disabled people. These matters must
reach officials who are decision-makers-TMN Deepak, Co-founder,
December 3 Movement
The RPWD Act, 2016 was introduced two years back. In spite of that, officials
have not been sensitized about the act yet. In the petition submitted by
TARATDAC Secretary S Namburajan, implementation of RPWD Act,
2016 is necessary as mentioned in the provision 41 (a) of the
act. The petition clearly states that police officials, judges, lawyers,
legislators and administrators must be part of the awareness session.
“Awareness sessions are very important and have not happened since the
enactment of RPWD Act, 2016. But mid level training programs do happen
occasionally for staffs from certain concerned departments like special
educators, representatives of NGO’s and so on. But the real decision makers
across the board are not sensitized. Every department must be trained which
includes their head of the departments too. Accessibility and sensitivity
must be assured in all services and not just for staffs who are confined to
disability departments”, says Smitha Sadasivam, Member, Disability
Rights Alliance.
Disability rights activists in Tamil Nadu hopes that the government will hold
awareness sessions at the earliest to sensitize officials.
ALSO READ: Chennai airport’s new terminal to show a disabled-friendly,
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Source: https://newzhook.com/story/22220
