State policy for persons with disabilities Himachal Pradesh

 State policy for persons with disabilities Himachal Pradesh

Introduction

Disability summarizes a great number of different functional limitations occurring in any population due to impairments. People of all ages and ethnicities have impairments - intellectual, psychiatric, physical, neurological, or sensory which may be temporary, intermittent or ongoing. One common experience faced by person with disabilities is that of various forms of discrimination and social exclusion. They continue to face physical and attitudinal barriers to their full participation in society and equal and effective enjoyment of all human rights. As per Census of 2001, there are 1,55,950 persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Himachal Pradesh, which constitute approximately 2% of the total population.

The State Policy aspires to see Himachal Pradesh as an inclusive and enabling society that values highly the lives of persons with disabilities and continually strives to enhance their access to opportunities and their participation at all levels in the society. The State Policy is based on the vision of having an inclusive and non disabling society where every person with disability is mainstreamed into society. It provides a framework for the Government to create an enabling environment to achieve this. It seeks to remove barriers that prevent persons with disabilities from participating fully in society.

The policy  attempts to cover the range of barriers experienced by the persons with disabilities - public attitudes, human rights, employment and educational opportunities and provides a framework for developing strategies and action plan for removing those barriers enabling their participation in the society.

Existing legal framework :

For the protection of the rights of Persons with Disabilities and to ensure their equal participation in the development of the state, the Government of H.P. is implementing the following legislations:
Persons with Disability (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, provides for medical facilities, education, employment, creation of barrier free environment, social security etc. The State Government is instrumental in implementing the various provisions of the Act. The Department of Social Justice & Empowerment (SJ&E) is the nodal Department for coordinating and facilitating the implementation of the Act. To give impetus to the implementation of the Act, a State Level Coordination Committee under the Chairpersonship of the Hon?ble Minister (Social Justice & Empowerment) has been constituted. This committee is being supported by the State Executive Committee to review and formulate the strategy for implementation of different provisions of the Act in coordination with different departments.
National Trust for welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disability Act, 1999 has provisions for providing legal guardianship to persons suffering from Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disability and for creation of an enabling environment to make them more independent. The National Trust Act, 1999 is being implemented in the State and Local Level Committees have been constituted in all 12 districts and legal guardians for the persons with these disabilities are being appointed.

Need for a state policy :

The achievement of full participation and equality of persons with disabilities requires active collaboration of the community and NGOs with the State Government. In order to be able to achieve this, there is a need to develop a State Policy on Disability. Through this, an attempt is being made to identify, formulate and envisage schemes and programmes while targeting the ultimate goal of independence, equal treatment, and full participation for all the persons with disabilities. The need for an appropriate State Policy also emerges from the recognition that a majority of Persons with Disabilities can lead a better quality of life if, provided equal opportunities and effective access to rehabilitation measures. As a result of substantial transformation in the social economic and institutional setup in the State over the years, policies and programmes of the State Government need to be periodically reviewed from the perspective of disability and made more responsive and enabling for the need of persons with disabilities especially in view of technical advancements. Under Section 18 of the PWD Act, one of the functions of the State Coordination Committee is also to develop a State Policy to address issues faced by persons with disabilities.

The persons with disabilities have the right to fully participate in all aspects of society, on the same basis as non-disabled people can do. However, full participation by persons with disabilities is limited by three inter-related barriers :

•  Lack of equitable access to opportunities, information, buildings, transport, services,etc.

• Discrimination and/or attitudinal prejudices and ignorance resulting in negative discrimination Economic and social status – a vicious cycle of lower economic, educational .
•  Health status relative to the rest of the population.

To remove these barriers to participation or independence, there is a need to identify them at the policy level and remove them. Also, there is a need to identify existing barriers when defining the problem, and making sure that no new barriers are created while developing proposed solutions.
This State Policy for the persons with disabilities has been evolved through a series of discussions held with various stakeholders including Government departments, NGOs working in the sector of disability, persons with disabilities working for the disabled, associations/ organisations of PWDs, able bodied persons responsible for the training and education of persons with disabilities, feed back received from such stakeholders from different districts of the State; study of similar policy papers of other states and the National Policy.

Vision of Policy :

For the purpose of achieving the vision of mainstreaming the Persons with Disabilities the following components are envisaged in the Policy:-
• Prevention of Disabilities
• Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities
• Enabling Environment for the Persons with Disabilities

1.Prevention of Disabilities:

A large number of cases of disability are preventable if, proper care is taken well in time.In order to build up an environment and develop systems for prevention, early detection and timely intervention, the State will endeavor

• To ensure that departments have the necessary knowledge, skills and systems to address disability issuee
• To coordinate efforts of all sectors of society to participate in disability prevention activitiies to enable pre-natal, anti-natal and peri-natal check up of all pregnant women/children
• In order to promote early intervention and identification of disability, especially during pregnancy and in children. to enable specific check up and pre natal tests along with genetic counseling where there is family history of specific diseases/disabilities;
• To provide facilities for early diagnosis of problems like schizophrenia, depression etc;
• To make provisions for counseling for the family crisis management

• Prevention of Disabilities Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities Mainstreaming of PWDs Enabling Environment for Persons with Disabilities Mainstreaming of PWDs to ensure completion of immunization cycles for children, pregnant mothers for prevention of disabilities;
• To ensure nutrition and health education for pregnant women• to disseminate information related to hygiene, health and sanitation
• To implement appropriate family counseling programmes, including premarital
•  To reduce occupational and environmental hazards through adoption of appropriate technologies
• To promote healthy lifestyle in the home, at school and in the workplace

2. Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities :  

Persons with disabilities have rights, which aim to ensure their equal and effective participation in the Society without any discrimination. To promote participation of PWDs proper medical care, rehabilitation and support services are required to be made available to them. Rehabilitation in the form of Physical rehabilitation, Educational rehabilitation and Economic rehabilitation will be ensured by adopting appropriate measures and also through expansion of the existing rehabilitation measures.

Physical Rehabilitation :  The policy envisages providing appropriate medical intervention through a network of district/ other hospitals, Disability Rehabilitation Centres (DRCs), District Disability Rehabilitation Centres (DDRCs), Composite Resource Centre (CRC), Medical colleges and State Resource Centre etc. This will be supplemented with counseling of persons with disabilities and their parents. Quality modern aids and appliances will be made available such persons and effective measures will be taken to generate a pool of Rehabilitation Professionals within the state. Research in the field of disability will also be encouraged. 

Access to Education The state Government is determined to fulfill the constitutional obligation under 86th amendment which makes Education a fundamental right of every child and to implement the Section 26 of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 which states that the appropriate Government and local authorities shall ensure that every child with a disability has access to free education in an appropriate environment till he attains the age of 18 years. The Department of Education and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Project are instrumental in providing free and compulsory education to all children. The State Govt. is committed to providing free education to disabled children having 40% or more disability from class-I till passing out from university including technical & professional courses in all Government Institutions. Provision has been made to provide 3% reservation in the admission of students with disabilities in the Institutions especially at higher level, so that they can pursue higher studies and professional courses. Emphasis will be on inclusive education and to provide the same, proper training of the teachers to equip them to look after the needs of such children in the integrated stream of education will be ensured. Needs of the children with severe disabilities can be best taken care of in the Special Schools hence, focus will be on expansion of Special Schools to the uncovered areas with the assistance of NGOs working in this sector. State will also endeavor to provide need based vocational training and courses to enable the children with disabilities to upgrade their skills and take up self employment ventures and eventually reduce their dependence level.

 Economic Rehabilitation :  The state policy envisages economic rehabilitation of PWDs by ensuring adequate and appropriate opportunities for productive and gainful employment. The State shall endeavor to enable persons with disabilities in both urban and rural areas to have increased opportunities for employment in Government and Private sectors as well as for self employment. The provisions of PWD Act related to reservation in Government job will be implemented effectively and opportunities in other sectors will also be created. 

Social Rehabilitation : Providing social security and rehabilitation facilities to Persons with Disabilities is a major concern for the society as well as for the parents of children/persons suffering from autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities, multiple disabilities and all others severe disabilities. The Policy envisages appropriate measures for providing rehabilitation allowance, health insurance, guardianship in addition to other benefits like marriage grant to the persons marrying PWDs to enable them to integrate in the social stream effectively

3. Enabling Environment for the Persons with Disabilities

  Persons with Disabilities often proves to be as productive and efficient as a nondisabled person in an inclusive and non-discriminating environment. Considering the persons with disabilities as differently abled persons, the physical and social environment around them has to be conducive to the needs and status of such persons to enable their participation and contribution. The State will endeavor to provide such enabling environment by taking effective steps for improvement in built environment, identification of all persons, with disabilities, promoting NGOs for the upliftment of PWDs, capacity building and providing appropriate avenues for Sports, Recreation and Cultural life. 

Barrier Free Environment : Physical barriers are a common experience faced by the persons with disabilities all over the world which discriminate against and socially exclude them from participation in society. There is a need to create an environment which is barrier free so that a person with disability moves about confidently and safely. To make the built environment suitable to enable their participation, the Town and Country Planning department in the State has amended the Building Bye-laws of the Government / Municipal Bodies in accordance with the section 46 of the PWD Act, 1995. It will be the endeavor of the state to provide barrier free access to the PWDs in the built environment, transport etc. Steps will also be taken to create a substantial resource pool for creation of barrier free environment so that the related measures can sustain in future also and become an integral part of construction mechanism especially in respect of the public buildings and places.

Providing Identity Cards to all the Persons with Disabilities  : The issue of evaluation of the nature and extent of disabilities, medical certification and issuing the Identity Cards to the PWDs will be undertaken on priority by the State Government. Identity cards issued to persons with disabilities authorize them to avail facility of free travel in the State Road Transport Corporation buses. Procedure for medical certification and issuance of Identity cards will be simplified to ensure that no deserving person is left out and no undeserving person gets the benefits and an appellate board will be created to deal with disputes. The state will also explore the feasibility for acceptance of Medical Certificates issued in other states provided the same are issued by the Competent authority in accordance with the uniform norms fixed by Government of India.

Capacity Building : The inclusion of persons with disabilities in society cannot merely be achieved by building their own capacity. Society, Government agencies and the civil society also need to enhance and build up their own capacities to play their role effectively to create an enabling environment for the integration of persons with disabilities. The state recognizes the need to create an environment which encourages, fosters and strengthens leadership by persons with disabilities. Steps will be taken to build capacities which would encourage and educate for creation of a non-disabling society that respects and highly values the lives of persons with disabilities and supports inclusive communities. State will encourage initiatives to ensure that agencies including the Government working in the disability sector have the necessary knowledge, skills and systems to address disability related issues.

Promotion of Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs)  : State fully recognizes that civil society organizations play a critical supplementary and supportive role to the State Government in integrating persons with disabilities by interventions in various spheres of activity. This includes awareness raising, running specialized institutions which meet the needs of persons with disabilities, advocacy for their rights etc. The State will support and encourage NGOs with required capacities to effectively play this role, and also encourage more NGOs to come forward to work in this sector.

Performance based Incentives to Persons with Disabilities, Private Employers and NGOs :  It will be the endeavor of the State Government to honor those persons who have overcome their disabilities and have been able to join the mainstream effectively while proving themselves as role models for other persons with disabilities. The State shall endeavor to encourage and facilitate them to learn more, upgrade their skills and utilize their potential to the maximum. The private employers and NGOs exhibiting significant contribution in providing employment opportunities and rehabilitation measures for the PWDs will be suitably awarded to recognition of their services

Promoting Sports, Recreation and Cultural life for Persons with Disabilities  : The contribution of sports, recreation and cultural avenues for PWDs is undeniable in socializing and mainstreaming them in community activities. Appropriate measures will be taken by the state to facilitate the persons with disabilities to exhibit their skills in sports and cultural activities and provide necessary infrastructure and equipments for the same. 

Strengthening of office of the State Commissioner Disability  : Steps will be taken by the State Government to strengthen the office / institution of the State Commissioner to enable the commissioner to discharge the functions envisaged under the Persons with Disability Act effectively.

Implementation of State Policy :

The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment will be the nodal department tocoordinate all matters relating to the implementation of the Policy. In addition toimplementing its own programme and schemes, the Department will play a pro-active role in pursuing with concerned authorities any issues which impinge on the rights of the persons with disabilities. The Departments of Health & Family Welfare, Education. Transport, PWD and Industries will be major partners of the department although all the departments will be
required to be actively involved in the implementation of related activities.The State Commissioner shall play key role in monitoring the implementation of State policy apart from their statutory responsibilities.All Government departments would develop a strategy for dealing with disability in their respective area of responsibility and also prepare work plans that specify actions each department will take to implement the strategy. This will provide an enduring framework to ensure that Government departments and agencies consider disabled people before making decisions in all related aspects. Government departments would submit their plans to the Nodal Department i.e. Department of Social Justice & Empowerment. These plans would focus on the following implementation:

Activities:

1. understanding the context of disability issues and developing a framework that will enable the Government to begin removing the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from participating fully in society.
2.  making budgetary provisions for maximizing opportunities for persons with disabilities in the Departmental Plans.
3.  developing policies that will make a difference for the PWDs. The policies should enable a society that highly values the lives and continually enhances full
participation of persons with disabilities by involving them.
4.  ensuring interagency co-ordination and collaboration for betterment of the Persons with Disabilities
5.  ensuring that human rights of the persons with disabilities are protected and there is no discrimination against them.

An inter Department body to co-ordinate matters relating to implementation of State policy will be formed.

Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies will be encouraged to participate in implementation of the State policy to address local level issues and draw up suitable programmes which will be integrated with the Village and District plans.

Every five years a detailed review will be done on the implementation of the State policy. The review will be a public document and will be discussed in a State convention.

By: Pooja Sharda