The Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry on Thursday extended the time for feedback on its draft national policy on disability from Friday (July 15) to August 31, while activists continued to raise demands for translations into sign language and regional languages.
This was the second extension given by the Ministry’s Department of Empowerment of Persons of Disabilities (DEPwD), after a one-week extension was given from July 9 to Friday (July 15).
In a public notice on its website, the PwD Department said a further extension had been given till August 31. The draft policy said there was a need for revision as the existing policy on disability was drafted in 2006. Since then, there have many changes, including India singing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007 and Parliament enacting the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
Meanwhile, disability rights activists have been calling for a sign language version of the policy. According to PwD sources, the process of making a sign language video should be completed by the end of July.
Vaishnavi Jayakumar of the Disability Rights Alliance said a group of activists, including wheelchair-users, had traveled from elsewhere in the region to meet PwD Department Secretary Anjali Bhawra, who was visiting the National Institute of Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities in Chennai on Tuesday.
Ms. Jayakumar, who was among the activists, said the group was told that a draft in sign language was being considered, but not in regional languages.
In a letter to the secretary, the activists said the draft was not available in sign language, in regional languages and plain language, which meant that a large number of Disabled persons were being left out of the consultative process.
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