Shimla: Umang Foundation has accused the Himachal Pradesh Government for presenting a morphed picture of disability sector before the Chief Commissioner, Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) of the union government. The CCPD is here to take stock of the situation.
In a memorandum submitted to CCPD today, noted activist and chairman of Umang Foundation Ajai Srivastava blamed the government for blatantly violating basic provisions of the Disability Act and even not implementing High Court’s orders on disability.
The memorandum apprised the CCPD that On Ajai Srivastava’s PIL, the state High Court had directed the government and State Universities on 4th June, 2015, to provide free education to the disabled students in all courses up to university level. The state universities have given complete fee waiver to the disabled students but the government has neither filed an appeal against the judgment nor bothered to implement it in schools and colleges.”
Ajai Srivastava claimed the government has failed to implement the CCPD’s examination guidelines for the blind persons despite High Court’s order on his PIL. Special school for blind and deaf girls at Sundernagar and special school for boys at Dhalli, Shimla are poorly managed and lack basic amenities. In both the schools, there is no computer lab with internet facility for blind children, no library for deaf students, no digital books for blind students, no computer teacher and no mobility instructor for blind children. There is no provision of psychological counselling of disabled children in special schools. Many children are suffering from psychological problems and are in dire need of counselling.
Srivastava further claimed that “not only these schools, four designated ‘inclusive senior secondary schools’ at Portmore Shimla, Nahan, Nagrota Bagwan (Kangra) and Joginder Nagar(Mandi) have enrolled disabled students but without proper facilities”. Like other inclusive schools, the blind girl students at local Portmore School have never been given a chance to learn and work on computer which is their basic necessity for them, he added.
He also blamed the government for denying three percent reservation to the disabled in jobs, and in the last three years disability quota was rarely mentioned in job advertisements, he further claimed.
He said, in violation of the Disability Act, the office of State Disability Commissioner has been put in complete defunct mode which was meant to give easy and speedy justice to the disabled. He also questioned giving additional charge of disability commissioner to a special secretary and termed it an eye-wash.
