Shimla: Umang Foundation has given an ultimatum of 15 days to the State government to implement the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWD Act).
Ajai Srivastava, chairman of the Umang Foundation, in a letter to chief minister Virbhadra Singh, said that if no immediate action is taken, he will approach the High Court to ensure justice to the disabled persons. He rued
“It is very unfortunate that after passing more than three months, the state government is sleeping on the Act. It is unacceptable and we will file definitely a PIL in the High Court after 15 days to force the government to implement the Act”
Ajai Srivastava said the new disability Act was enacted by the Parliament on 16th December 2016, and it was supposed to be implemented across the country from 19th April this year. He alleged that due to the negligence of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, the disabled population has been deprived of benefits of this new welfare Act.
He said the new act has replaced the 22 years old Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995. In the new act, total 21 disabilities have been identified where as in the old Act this number was only seven. This is the first time when people with multiple disabilities, muscular dystrophy and thalassemia have been included in the list of disabilities and are being provided with a number of relaxations and benefits.
